UMASS/AMHERST 


—  BY— 

MICHAEL  K.  BOYER. 


Profitable 

Poultry©) 

Farming.^ 


Author  of 


19  19  19  19 

'All  About  Broilers  and  Market  Poultry  Geuerally ;" 
Poultry  Journalist  an(^  Editor.  <§g^(§0§><$0$5 


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nd  for  Sale  by  the  Author,  Hanimonton,  !^.  J. 


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This  book  may  be  kept  out 

TWO    WEEKS 

only,  and  is  subject  to  a  fine  of  TWO 
CENTS  a  day  thereafter.  It  will  be  due 
on  the  day  indicated  below. 


Fariiiinf. 


fER. 


MARKET  POULTRY 
AND  EDITOR. 


5  AUTHOR. 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Archive 

in  2010  with  funding  from 

Boston  Library  Consortium  IVIember  Libraries 


http://www.archive.org/details/profitablepoultrOOboye 


Profitable  Poiiliry  Farming. 


By  MICHAEL   K.  BOYER. 


lUthor  of  "all  about  broilers  and  market  poultry 
generally  :  "  poultry  journalist  and  editor. 


Price,  25  Cents. 


HAMMONTON,    N.    J. 

PUBLISHED  AND   FOR  SALE   BY  THE  AUTHOR. 
1893. 


OHIO     POULTRY    JOURNAL    PRINT,   DAYTON,   OHIO. 


PREFACE. 


It  is  customary,  in  writing  a  book,  to  have  a 
preface,  and  that  is  the  only  excuse  I  have  for  giv- 
ing one.  I  have  written  this  work  for  the  purpose 
of  assisting  the  novice  who  has  taken  on  the  "hen 
fever,"  and  would  like  practical  advice  with  the 
enthusiasm  left  off.  If  I  succeed  in  my  mission  I 
am  satisfied.  I  oppose  gigantic  ventures,  as  I  see 
no  money  in  the  "thousand-hen  farms."  Some  have 
succeeded,  but  many  failed.  I  see  no  profit  in  a 
business  that  must  depend  upon  hired  help.  This 
little  work  is  written  with  the  intention  of  show- 
ing how  money  can  be  made  by  small  farms,  and 
the  advantages  in  making  poultry  an  adjunct  with 
some  other  income.  I  give  a  number  of  experi- 
ences and  plans,  and  let  the  reader  do  the  select- 
ing. To  more  properly  conduct  the  work,  I  have 
visited  large  duck  farms  on  Long  Island,  and 
prominent  poultry  establishments  in  difi'erent  parts 
of  the  country;  so  that  the  instructions  as  given  in 


PREFACE. 


the  book  are  those  from  mj  own  personal  experi- 
ence, coupled  with  what  I  have  seen  in  my  rounds. 

The  advertising  pages  have  been  carefully  edited, 
and  I  feel  proud  of  the  success  of  my  efforts  in  that 
direction.  Everything  mentioned  in  the  book  is 
advertised  by  reliable  parties,  so  that  the  reader 
will  at  once  know  where  to  apply. 

In  short,  I  have  endeavored  from  beginning  ta 
end  to  give  the  reader  a  complete  guide,  and  in 
this  particular  it  will  be  seen  that  the  well  filled 
advertising  pages  are  not  the  least  important  to  the 
book. 

Hoping  that  I  have  not  labored  in  vain,  I  beg- 
leave  to  remain  THE  AUTHOE. 


CONTBNTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 


THE  GROWTH  OF  PRACTICAL  POULTRY  FARMING — THE 
REQUIREMENTS  —  THE  BEST  WAY  TO  BEGIN  —  THE 
VALUE  OF  CROSSES  —  THE  USE  OF  THE  THOROUGH- 
BRED —  HOW  TO  HAVE  HARDY  AND  PROSPEROUS 
STOCK. 


CHAPTER  n. 


THE  SUCCESS  OF  ARTIFICIAL  INCUBATION  —  RUNNING  AN 
INCUBATOR  AND  BROODER  ON  THE  FARM  —  BUILDING 
AN  INCUBATOR  CELLAR  —  COLONIZING  THE  CHICKS  — 
R.   G.   white's  METHODS   OF   FEEDING  CHICKS. 


CHAPTER  ni. 


POULTRY    AS    AN    ADJUNCT — A    BUTTER  AND   EGG  FARM  — 

^      SIZE    OF    HEN    YARDS    FOR   SUCCESS  —  BUILDING  HEN 

HOUSES    FOR    COMFORT    AS  WELL   AS   PROFIT— FEED- 

ING    FOR    EGGS  —  MR.     HUNTER'S    METHODS    OF    EGG 

FARMING. 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IV. 


HOW  TO  TEST  EGGS  —  POULTRY  AND  FRUIT  —  BROILERS 
AND  BERRIES  —  HOW  THE  SCHEME  WORKS  IN  HAM^ 
MONTON  —  SPECIALTIES  IN  VEGETABLES  —  A  GEN- 
ERAL POULTRY  FARM. 


CHAPTER  V. 


THE  ATLANTIC  DUCK  FARM — DUCK  CULTURE  FOR  PROFIT — 
SIZE  OF  HOUSES  —  HOW  THE  BREEDING  DUCKS  ARE 
FED — HOW  THE  DUCKLINGS  ARE  FED — HOW  TO  DRESS 
DUCKLINGS  FOR  MARKET—OTHER  USEFUL   POINTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 


THE     GROWTH     OF      PRACTICAL      POULTRY    FARMING  —  THE 
REQTJIREMENTS  —  THE     BEST     WAY     TO     BEGIN  —  THE 
,  VALUE   OF    CROSSES  —  THE    USE     OF    THf)    THOROUGH- 

BRED—  HOW     TO      HAVE       HARDY    AND     PROSPEROUS 
STOCK. 

Each  year  marks  the  wonderful  growth  of  market  poul- 
try. The  day  has  passed  when  the  poultry  farmer  is  to  be 
sneered  at.  We  have  come  to  a  time  when  it  is  necessary 
to  raise  fowls  and  eggs  for  table  use,  and  the  poultry  world 
has  acknowledged  the  fact,  inasmuch  as  she  has  given  way 
to  it.  A  poultry  paper  today  is  incomplete  without  a 
series  of  practical  articles ;  a  show  is  not  finished  without 
a  premium  for  the  practical  cause,  and  the  new  fowl  is  oi 
no  use  unless  it  can  be  proven  that  for  utility  it  is  recom- 
mended. Egg  farms,  broiler  farms,  and  general  poultry 
farms,  are  springing  up  all  over  the  country,  while  the 
once  exclusive  fancy  ranches  are  diminishing.  Today 
some  of  the  largest  fancy  farms  are  resorting  to  market 
methods  to  get  rid  of  their  surplus  eggs  and  fowls,  and 
thus  make  ends  meet.  The  farmer  has  at  last  found  that 
poultry  does  pay,  and  he  is  making  eggs  and  table  birds 
an  important  branch  of  his  business.  The  farm  that  ten 
years  ago  had  one  common  flock  of  hens  of  all  ages,  today 
is  ornamented  with  a  comfortable  house  and  a  well  selected 
flock.  The  one-grain  diet  has  been  dropped,  and  a  regular 
bill-of-fare  has  been  ordered,  and  the  man  that  never  had 
any  eggs  to  sell  in  winter  now  brings  them  fresh  to  the 
door  of  the  citizen.  There  are  nine  chances  for  success  in 
market  poultry  where  there  is  but  one  to  the  fancier. 


8  PROFITABLE   POULTRY  FARMING. 

There  is  nothing  gilt-edged  about  the  work,  but  there  is  a 
satisfaction  of  knowing  that  the  demand  is  greater  than 
the  supply,  and  the  man  must  be  wide  awake  who  wishes 
tc  cater  to  the  markets.  The  work  has  grown  to  such  an 
extent  that  epicures  have  become  critics,  and  the  best 
goods  are  eagerly  sought  after.  It  is  just  as  important  for 
the  market  man  to  send  choice  stock  to  the  stalls,  as  it  is 
for  the  fancier  to  ship  high-scoring  birds  abroad.  Eggs 
must  be  clean  and  attractive  looking ;  fowls  must  be  plump 
and  choice — none  others  need  apply. 

But  there  is  one  thing  left,  and  that  is  recognition  from 
the  state  experimental  stations  and  the  Agricultural  De- 
partment at  Washington.  All  the  poultry  papers  and 
books,  all  the  poultry  editors  and  writers,  in  influence  are 
but  as  a  drop  in  the  bucket  to  the  value  that  these  power- 
ful agencies  can  give  to  the  cause  by  prompt  recognition. 
Why  all  these  bulletins  on  insects  and  fertilizers  when  the 
American  hen  is  forgotten  ?  Why  all  about  the  diseases  of 
hogs,  when  the  fowls  of  the  country  need  medical  skill? 
Why  all  about  the  market  value  of  beef  and  pork  when  the 
cry  is  for  eggs  and  chicken  flesh  ?  It  is  a  sad  mistake — this 
snubbing  the  American  hen.  Importing  eggs  every  year 
when  the  money  could  be  placed  in  the  pockets  of  our 
farmers !     It  is  hoped  that  something  will  soon  be  done. 

But  not  every  man  is  adapted  for  poultry  work.  There 
is  no  question  about  it.  Is  a  man  with  the  tastes  and 
abilities  for  a  profession  cut  out  to  steer  a  plow?  Is  the 
man  that  is  a  born  farmer  in  a  position  to  take  up  physics? 
We  all  have  our  talepts.  Yet  I  believe  there  are  more  men 
possessed  with  the  talents  for  poultry  than  any  other 
occupation.    What  are  those  requirements  ? 

Well,  first,  he  must  be  wide  awake.  Drones  never  suc- 
ceed with  hens.  Lazy  people  only  meet  with  failure. 
Tired  people  can  not  make  hens  lay.  The  man  must  have 
his  wits  about  him.     He  must  study  the  egg  problem  as 


PROFITABLE   POULTRY  FARMING.  9 

the  broker  watches  the  rise  and  fall  in  stocks.  He  must 
be  ever  on  the  alert  for  improvements. 

Second.  He  must  have  pluck.  "Pluck"  seems  a  large 
word  for  the  hen  business,  but  it  certainly  is  not  too  large 
for  the  risks  to  run.  I  say  "  risks,"  for  I  believe  that  every 
business  has  its  risks,  and  the  man  who  can  meet  reverses 
and  hold  on  has  pluck,  and  without  it  he  is  sure  to  fail.  A 
man  with  pluck  is  energetic ;  he  is  not  afraid  to  work. 

Third.  He  must  be  experienced.  Of  course,  I  do  not 
expect  he  must  know  it  all  when  he  starts.  If  such  would 
be  the  case  there  would  be  no  poultry  farms.  But  he  must 
be  well  booked,  and  then  he  must  put  his  learning  to  a 
practical  test. 

Fourth.  He  must  have  a  fondness  for  the  work.  He 
must  be  in  love  with  it.  If  a  man  takes  an  interest  in  what 
he  is  doing  he  will  do  it  all  the  better.  But  if  he  enters  a 
scheme  for  the  money  that  is  in  it,  ten  chances  to  one  he 
will  fail. 

Fifth.  He  must  be  financially  equipped.  You  can  not 
build  houses  on  promissory  notes.  You  can  not  buy  land 
on  credit.  You  can  not  get  hens  on  time — and  you  can  not 
feed  them  on  wind — and  expect  the  first  year  or  two  to  get 
out  of  debt.  You  should  have  enough  cash  to  pay  as  you 
go,  and  until  the  farm  begins  to  yield  her  fruits.  Do  not 
expect  to  embark  on  nothing.  You  can  not  in  any  other 
business;  why  should  you  expect  it  of  poultry  farming? 

Recavitulation. — You  must  be  up  to  the  times.  Never  get 
the  "blues."  Be  first  a  student,  and  then  a  practical 
worker.  You  must  love  the  work,  and  you  must  have 
money.  If  you  do  not  possess  all  these  let  your  fingers  off 
the  industry. 

As  a  rule  the  successful  poultry  farms  are  not  made  in  a 
day.  They  are  the  outcome  from  small  beginnings.  By 
starting  small  there  is  a  chance  of  gaining  such  experience 
that  the  books  can  not  give.     It  is  not  reasonable  to  sup- 


10  PROFITABLE   POULTRY   FARMING. 

pose  that  book  knowledge  alone  will  afford  a  man  a  chance 
to  carry  on  successful  poultry  farming,  any  more  than  it 
could  be  expected  in  any  other  line  of  business.  In  this 
particular  the  experience  of  A.  F.  Hunter,  the  editor  of 
Farm  Poultry,  is  worthy  of  note.  The  first  year  he  found 
that  he  had  but  a  profit  of  |1.01,  although  in  the  account 
was  an  increase  of  the  flock  from  nothing  to  about  seventy- 
five  laying  pullets;  "and,"  he  adds,  "if  that  increase  were 
duly  considered  we  made  a  good  profit  on  our  twenty-two 
fowls  bought  at  the  start."  So  it  will  be  seen  that  Mr. 
Hunter  startfcd  with  but  twenty-two  fowls.  From  that 
small  beginning  he  has  crept  to  nearly  three  hundred,  and 
the  past  year  made  a  clear  profit  of  |1,349.38.  I  shall  give 
more  about  this  later  on  in  the  book. 

In  my  opinion,  the  best  way  to  start  an  e^g  farm  is  to 
get  one  or  two  hundred  eggs  of  the  heavy  layers,  like  the 
Minorcas,  Leghorns,  etc.,  and  either  hatch  these  with  hens 
(in  most  localities  sitting  hens  can  be  purchased  from 
farmers )  or  have  some  one  put  them  in  his  incubator. 
This  would  be  giving  a  nice  flock  of  pullets,  and  which,  if 
properly  fed,  would  be  brought  into  lay  by  fall.  Each 
year  the  flocks  could  be  enlarged,  and  a  corresponding 
number  of  houses  put  up.  Thus  gradually  while  the  expe- 
rience was  gained  the  number  of  birds  and  houses  would 
also  increase.  There  is  much  to  learn,  and  the  only  way 
to  gain  the  knowledge  is  to  thus  "creep  before  you  walk." 

As  many  of  my  readers  know,  I  favor  the  cross-bred  bird 
in  poultry  farming.  I  do  not  favor  mongrelism,  but  I  have 
by  experience  been  taught  to  value  the  bird  born  from  first 
crosses.  I  do  not  favor  them  so  much  for  eggs  as  for  the 
ideal  points  they  give  for  table  use.  By  judicious  crossing 
it  is  possible  to  put  quick  growth  and  fine  bodies  on  the 
offspring.  Besides,  the  unity  of  two  pure  bloods  gives  a 
hardier  bird  than  is  so  often  the  case  in  strictly  pure 
bloods.     I  favor  the  cross-bred  fowl  on  the  same  line  that 


PROFITABLE   POULTRY  FARMING.  11 

the  dairyman  prefers  the  grade  in  cattle  and  the  farmer 
the  cross  in  hogs.  I  can  get  better  results.  But  I  have  no 
use  for  cross-bred  males. 

I  favor  the  thoroughbred  for  the  making  of  these  crosses, 
and  when  I  want  special  yards  for  eggs  only  I  keep  none 
but  strictly  thoroughbred  stock.-  I  do  not  agree  with  some 
writers  that  certain  crosses  will  give  better  layers  than 
thoroughbreds.  It  has  never  yet  been  so  in  my  experi- 
ence, and  I  have  tried  the  very  crosses  these  parties  recom- 
mended. But  I  do  believe  that  by  uniting  a  heavy  laying 
breed  with  one  noted  for  its  grand  carcass  and  excellent 
table  qualities,  we  can  get  a  general  purpose  fowl  that  will 
do  remarkable  work  in  both  eggs  and  meat.  I  have  found 
that  to  be  the  case  by  crossing  the  Black  Minorca  on  the 
Black  Langshan,  and  by  crossing  the  Houdan  on  the 
Brahmas  and  Cochins.  I  have  likewise  had  early  layers 
and  big  bodies  in  the  cross  of  Plymouth  Rock  and  Lang- 
shan. 

I  am  repeatedly  asked  which  of  the  heavy  layers  I  have 
found  the  best  for  egg  farming.  My  preference  is  the 
Minorca,  as  they  are  layers  of  large  eggs,  and  almost  as 
prolific  as  the  Leghorns.  On  my  place  the  relative  quali- 
ties of  the  heavy  layers  have  been  as  follows :  Minorcas, 
Spanish,  Anconas,  White  Leghorns,  Brown  Leghorns, 
Andalusians,  and  Hamburgs.  I  classify,  first,  according  to 
the  size  of  the  egg ;  second,  to  the  quantity  of  eggs  laid ; 
and,  third,  to  the  hardiness  of  the  fowls.  Of  the  list  there 
is  no  doubt  but  that  the  records  of  the  Hamburgs  will  be 
as  good  as  any  in  the  list,  but  they  are  as  a  breed  more 
delicate,  and  that  I  believe  is  one  reason  why  they  are  not 
naore  generally  kept. 

I  think  outcrossing  has  much  to  do  in  keeping  the  stock 
healthy.  It  infuses  new  blood  that  is  most  valuable  to 
them,  and  which  seems  to  give  renewed  strength  to  the 
offspring.     I  have  tried  the  plan  of  improving  a  flock  of 


12  PROFITABLE   POULTRY  FARMING. 

Minorcas  in  this  respect;  or,  I  should  have  said,  of  making 
a  new  strain  of  Minorcas.  It  takes  several  years  to  do  the 
work,  but  when  once  performed  it  gives  excellent 'results. 
Take  a  flock  of  Black  Langshans  and  cross  a  Black  Minorca 
cock  on  them.  The  next  year  pick  out  those  that  show 
the  best  Minorca  heads,  and  again  cross  a  Minorca  on 
therii..  Follow  up  the  same  plan  the  following  year,  each 
time  using  a  new  male  bird,  and  in  about  three  years  of 
such  work  there  will  be  a  flock  of  fine  bodies  and  grand 
constitutions,  and  the  best  poultry  judges  in  the  country 
could  not  tell  that  an  outcross  had  ever  been  made.  It 
may  not  be  strictly  "straight  goods"  for  the  fancy  to 
follow,  but  as  I  am  dealing  with  the  market  people,  and  as 
hardy  and  vigorous  stock  are  of  the  first  importance,  the 
advice  may  be  of  some  value.  Other  breeds  can  be  dealt 
with  in  the  same  way.  A  flock  of  Pekin  ducks  can  be 
greatly  improved  by  outcrossing  with  Aylesbury.  As 
inbreeding  is  one  of  the  prime  causes  of  ill  health,  it  can 
readily  be  seen  that  this  outcrossing  is  a  safeguard. 


PROFITABLE   POULTRY  FARMING.  13 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE  SUCCESS  OF  ARTIFICIAL  INCUBATION  —  RUNNING  AN 
INCUBATOR  AND  BROODER  ON  THE  FARM  —  BUILDING 
AN  INCUBATOR  CELLAR  — COLONIZING  THE  CHICKS  — 
R.  G.  white's  METHODS   OF   FEEDING   CHICKS. 

The  idea  seems  to  be  prevalent  with  some  people  that 
the  incubator  and  brooder  were  invented  to  take  the  place 
of  the  old  hen.  In  other  words,  that  this  machinery  would 
in  time  entirely  supplant  the  hen  for  hatching  purposes, 
and  that  they  could  do  better  work  than  the  old-time 
''  Biddy."  Such  an  idea  is  false.  I  do  not  believe  that  the 
abilities  of  the  hen — in  her  season — can  be  beaten.  I  be- 
lieve there  are  some  matters  about  her  way  of  doing  busi- 
ness that  invention  can  not  grasp.  But  by  the  invention 
of  artificial  methods  we  are  accomplishing  something 
which  seems  entirely  contrary  to  nature — the  bringing  out 
of  chicks  at  a  season  of  the  year  when  there  is  not  the 
least  desire  in  the  hen  to  become  broody.  Furthermore, 
we  can  now  conduct  the  business  on  a  wholesale  plan, 
bringing  out  thousands  in  a  season,  where  heretofore  we 
had  to  content  ourselves  with  a  few  hundred.  The  success 
of  these  inventions  has  boomed  the  broiler  market,  and  we 
now,  with  an  endless  string  of  incubators  and  brooders, 
are  unable  to  keep  pace  with  the  demand  for  frying  chick- 
ens. It  is  a  good  idea  to  run  the  incubators  and  hens. 
Start  the  incubators  as  soon  in  the  fall  as  possible,  and 
keep  on  until  the  hens  become  broody,  when  the  incu- 
bators can  be  stopped  and  the  hens  given  the  right  of  way. 


14  PROFITABLE   POULTUY  FARMING. 

Some  poultry  raisers  run  the  incubators  the  entire  year, 
also  setting  all  the  hens  that  wish  to  undertake  the  work. 

The  time  is  coming  when  every  farm  will  run  an  incu- 
bator and  brooder.  Probably  I  should  have  said  that  every 
enterprising  farmer  will  adopt  the  artificial  methods  in  rais- 
ing poultry.  Above  all  people  the  farmer  is  best  adapted 
for  the  business,  and  why  he  should  be  so  slow  at  taking 
hold  of  the  work  I  am  puzzled  to  know.  There  is  no  for- 
tune in  sight  for  those  who  run  the  chicken  business,  but 
there  is  enough  money  in  it  to  make  it  a  most  desirable 
farm  crop.  Buy  a  small  incubator  and  brooder  to  start 
with,  and  after  all  the  details  are  learned  increase  the 
capacity.  In  a  few  years  quite  a  plant  can  thus  be  secured 
and  an  income  added  to  the  farm  that  will  give  a  better 
margin  than  any  other  crop.  I  could  point  to  a  farm  on 
which  chickens  and  cows  are  kept.  The  product  of  both 
are  sold.  Milk,  butter,  eggs,  and  broilers  go  to  market, 
and  the  eggs  and  broilers  bring  in  two  dollars  to  the  milk 
and  butter  one.  It  requires  less  help  to  run  the  poultry 
branch  than  it  does  the  dairy. 

A  cellar  is  of  prime  importance  for  running  an  incubator. 
It  can  be  made  any  size.  Dig  out  the  ground  and  wall  up 
with  stone  or  brick,  the  same  as  you  would  for  a  dwelling, 
only  let  the  wall  extend  above  the  surface  of  the  ground 
two  or  three  feet.  On  top  of  this  wall  place  your  roof.  The 
floor  of  the  cellar  should  be  cemented.  Incubators  run  in 
cellars  keep  a  more  uniform  temperature  and  require  less 
care. 

I  am  not  a  friend  to  the  large  brooding  system.  I  rather 
favor  colonies  of  chicks.  Having  seen  and  experienced 
both  plans,  I  am  in  favor  of  the  latter.  It  gives  a  better 
chance  for  the  youngsters  to  grow.  I  like  to  see  these 
individual  brooders  scattered  about  as  you  would  place 
the  coops  of  the  hen  and  her  young.  I  don't  want  any 
fence.     It  is  wonderful  how  soon  each  chick  will  know 


PROFITABLE   POULTRY   FARMING.  15 

its  house.  In  the  colonization  plan  there  is  less  danger  of 
a  spread  of  disease,  and  the  chicks  always  look  brighter 
and  grow  better  than  when  confined  to  close  quarters. 
Harry  Phillips,  who  has  the  largest  brooding  house  in 
Hammonton,  says  if  he  had  to  do  it  over  again  he  would 
have  none  other  than  the  chicks  in  colonies.  In  the  large 
houses  it  costs  as  much  for  fuel  for  a  single  pen  as  for  a 
whole  house  full.  In  the  colony  plan,  your  cost  is  what 
your  product  makes  it. 

The  following  interview  appeared  in  the  Farm-Poultry^ 
Boston,  Massachusetts,  and  was  part  of  the  broiler  articles 
I  wrote  for  that  excellent  paper : 

I  made  a  visit  to  the  broiler  farm  of  Richard  G.  White, 
on  Fairview  Street,  and  when  I  left  it  I  felt  that  I  had  a 
good  share  of  practical  knowledge  for  Farm-Poultry  readers. 
Mr.  White  is  a  plain,  hard-working  man.  He  is  in  the 
fruit  business  in  summer  and  the  broiler  business  in  win- 
ter, and  he  speaks  very  encouragingly  of  his  occupation. 
He  has  no  secrets,  and  does  not  flinch  one  bit  in  answering 
any  and  all  queries  that  may  be  asked  him.  Last  year  he 
had  a  capacity  for  one  thousand  chicks,  but  this  year  he 
has  increased  to  three  thousand. 

His  system  of  brooding  last  year  was  the  Packard  bottom 
heat  method;  but  this  year  he  will  use  both  the  top  and 
bottom  heat,  to  fully  satisfy  himself  which  is  best.  Mr. 
White  has  a  novel  way  of  testing  the  heat  in  his  brooders. 
He  places  a  thermometer  on  a  stand  about  two  and  a  half 
inches  from  the  floor,  as  he  thinks  this  gives  the  best  aver- 
age temperature.  He  begins  the  heat  at  eighty  degrees. 
This  is  the  lowest  temperature  I  have  yet  seen  in  starting 
young  chicks,  but  the  appearance  of  Mr.  White's  chicks 
would  indicate  that  it  is  not  a  bit  too  low.  There  is  more 
danger  in  getting  the  heat  too  high.  One  writer  in  partic- 
ular uses  one  hundred  degrees,  but  as  I  have  never  seen 
his  chicks  I  am  unable  to  say  if  they  do  well  at  such  a  heat. 


16  PROFITABLE   POULTRY   FARMING. 

However,  Mr.  White's  product  gives  living  testimony  to  a 
lower  temperature. 

In  the  matter  of  feeding  Mr.  White  is  also  different  from 
the  rest  of  the  broiler  men  of  Hammonton.  He  makes  a 
regular  johnny-cake,  but  leaves  out  the  vinegar  and  soda 
which  a  number  of  writers  suggest,  and  this  cake  he  feeds 
the  youngsters  until  they  are  one  week  old.  It  might  also 
be  stated  that  he  puts  Animal  Meal  in  the  cake  instead  of 
the  usual  prepared  meat.  He  likes  the  meal  for  several 
reasons,  but  principally  on  account  of  its  fineness — the 
chicks  are  bound  to  eat  it.  After  the  first  week  he  drops 
the  johnny-cake  and  feeds  a  mash  composed  of  equal  parts 
of  corn  meal,  bran,  and  middlings,  with  the  usual  amount 
of  meat  scraps.  Now,  as  at  this  stage  of  the  chick's  growth 
bowel  trouble  is  apt  to  show  itself,  he  keeps  a  close  watch, 
and  regulates  it  with  the  middlings — lessening  the  quantity 
of  middlings  if  the  chicks  become  costive  and  increasing 
the  amount  if  they  have  looseness  of  the  bowels.  After 
trying  this  method  for  several  years,  he  says  he  finds  no 
trouble  in  keeping  the  chicks  in  the  right  condition.  He 
feeds  wheat  and  cracked  corn  only  as  a  relish.  Several 
times  during  the  day,  between  meals,  he  throws  several 
handfuls  of  the  grain  to  them,  thus  getting  them  to  exer- 
cise in  scratching  and  running  about.  Grit  is  constantly 
kept  before  them.  He  uses  small,  sharp  gravel,  and  likes 
it  better  than  oyster  shells  for  the  purpose.  When  the 
young  chicks  are  put  in  the  brooder  a  pan  of  ground  char- 
coal is  placed  before  them.  After  several  days,  if  it  is  no- 
ticed that  they  do  not  eat  any  of  it,  charcoal  is  put  in  their 
cake  and  afterward  in  their  mashes.  "They  must  have 
charcoal,"  said  Mr.  White,  "and  I  believe  my  success  in 
raising  chickens  is  principally  due  to  the  charcoal."  But 
Mr.  White  does  not  stop  here.  He  scatters  oyster  shell 
lime  on  the  brooders  every  morning  after  he  cleans  up. 
They  pick  at  it  with  a  relish.    And  a  pan  of  sifted  coal 


PROFITABLE   POULTRY  FARMING.  17 

ashes  is  pufc  fresh  before  them  every  morning.  It  serves  a 
double  purpose :  both  as  a  dust  bath  and  a  treat  in  various 
substances  which  they  will  pick  out  of  the  ashes. 

"Had  you  good  success  last  year  in  raising  chickens?'^ 
I  asked  Mr.  White. 

"Very  good,"  he  replied.  "  My  capacity  was  small,  but 
out  of  fifteen  hundred  that  I  hatched,  I  only  lost  fifty,  the 
balance  I  marketed,  which  my  books  will  show,"  and  Mr. 
White  made  an  effort  to  get  his  books  to  verify  his  state- 
ment, but  we  assured  him  that  was  not  necessary,  as 
appearances  at  his  place  were  enough  to  indicate  prosperity.. 

"  Why  do  not  you  raise  your  own  eggs?  "  I  asked, 

"Well,  I  have  two  reasons.  First,  I  do  not  have  much 
faith  in  egg  farms  unless  they  can  have  a  free  range.  I 
have  not  the  ground  to  keep  enough  fowls  on  such  a  plan. 
So  I  do  the  next  best  thing  by  buying  up  my  eggs  from 
small  flocks,  and  from  birds  that  have  my  personal  super- 
vision. That  is,  they  are  mated  and  composed  of  such 
bloods  as  will  give  good  broilers." 

I  tried  to  show  him  that  the  hens  would  be  profitable  in 
limited  ranges  if  properly  fed  and  taken  care  of.  But  Mr. 
White's  opinion  did  not  coincide  with  mine,  and  as  he  had 
such  an  excellent  arrangement  to  get  eggs,  I  did  not  use 
any  further  argument  on  that  score. 

The  size  of  the  "  mother"  (brooder)  in  Mr.  White's  pens; 
is  three  feet  square ;  the  brooder  floor  is  four  feet  six  inch- 
es ;  the  yard  inside  the  pen  is  four  feet  six  inches  by  five 
feet ;  and  the  outside  yard  is  four  feet  six  inches  by  sixteen, 
feet.  One  of  these  pens  he  reserves  for  a  hospital  in  which 
are  put  cripples,  a  dozen  or  more  of  which  are  apt  to  show 
themselves  every  season.  The  house  of  last  year  contained 
ten  pens,  and  in  which  nine  of  them  (one  being  counted 
out  for  the  aforesaid  hospital)  Mr.  White  was  compelled  to 
crowd  fifteen  hundred  chicks. 

"  Was  that  not  a  dangerous  move?  "  I  asked. 


la  PROFITABLE   POULTRY  FARMING. 

"  Decidedly  so,"  he  replied,  "  but  I  could  not  help  it.  I 
had  contracted  for  the  eggs,  had  to  take  them,  and,  of 
course,  was  compelled  to  put  them  in  the  incubators. 
The  eggs  were  remarkably  fertile,  and  my  incubators  never 
worked  better.  Out  came  the  chicks  and  I  had  to  care  for 
them." 

Considering  the  crowded  condition  of  Mr.  White's  house 
last  year,  and  the  remarkable  success  he  had  in  raising  his 
chicks,  I  deem  his  method  of  feeding  worthy  of  attention. 
He,  however,  will  make  one  change  this  year,  and  that  will 
be  in  the  feed  the  first  week.  Instead  of  the  johnny  cake 
he  will  make  a  cake  from  the  recipe  used  by  Mr.  Howe, 
and  which  I  have  given  in  a  former  article  in  Farm- Poultry. 
Only  instead  of  the  meat  scraps  he  will  use  Animal  Meal, 
as  he  likes  that  better  for  young  chicks. 

"  What  do  you  consider  the  proper  number  of  chicks  for 
your  brooders,  to  avoid  crowding ?  "  I  asked. 

"I  always  aim,"  he  said,  "to  have  not  over  150  in  the 
brooder  the  first  week,  although  200  could  be  managed. 
When  they  run  to  three-quarters  of  a  pound  I  thin  down 
to  one  hundred.  After  that  as  a  chance  ofifers  I  take  a  few 
out,  until  only  seventy-five  are  in  by  the  time  they  reach 
the  marketable  size." 

"  Have  you  ever  tried  summer  hatching?  "  I  asked. 

*'  About  two  years  ago  I  gave  it  a  trial,  and  met  with 
very  good  success,  never  getting  less  than  twenty-five 
cents  a  pound,  and,  in  most  casses,  thirty  cents.  As  there 
was  not  much  cost  in  raising  them,  I  felt  highly  encour- 
aged in  the  results.  It  was  my  intention  to  keep  on  hatch- 
ing last  summer,  but  putting  up  the  new  buildings  and 
other  work  prevented  me  from  doing  so,  but  I  shall  keep 
right  ahead  from  now  on." 

"Well,  now,  Mr.  White,"  I  concluded,  "what  is  your 
candid  opinion  of  the  chicken  business  in  all  its  branches, 
compared  with  farm  work?"  ^ 


PROFITABLE   POULTRY  FARMING.  19 

"  I  have  tried  farming  in  all  its  branches,  and  have  been 
fairly  successful,  but  for  capital  invested,  and  the  amount 
of  real  solid  work,  I  can  make  more  money  out  of  the 
chicken  business  than  I  can  out  of  any  and  all  the  other 
branches  of  farm  life.  I  am  not  an  enthusiast,  but  prac- 
tical results  tell ;  but  I  find  broiler  raising  the  most  profit- 
able of  all  the  branches  in  the  chicken  business." 


20  PROFITABLE   POULTRY   FARMING. 


CHAPTER  III. 


POULTRY  AS  AN  ADJUNCT  —  A  BUTTER  AND  EGG  FARM  — 
SIZE  OF  HEN  YARDS  FOR  SUCCESS  —  BUILDING  HEN" 
HOUSES  FOR  COMFORT  AS  WELL  AS  PROFIT  —  FEED- 
ING FOR  EGGS  —  MR.  HUNTER'S  METHODS  OF  EGG 
FARMING. 

Poultry  pays  best  as  an  adjunct.  There  is  no  question 
about  that.  During  the  past  few  years  I  have  been  study- 
ing all  the  branches  more  than  I  ever  did,  and  I  have  yet 
to  find  one  that  could  be  depended  upon  as  an  exclusive 
branch.  The  farmer  can  make  poultry  the  most  successful 
crop  on  his  farm,  if  he  will  only  give  the  matter  the  proper 
care.  But  where  are  hens  so  much  neglected  as  on  the 
averagp  farm?  The  hogs,  cows,  and  all  the  crops  grown 
have  the  proper  attention  given  them,  but  when  it  comes 
to  the  fowls  they  seem  of  such  little  importance  that  they 
are  seldom  noticed.  But  when  you  find  a  farmer  that  does 
take  care  of  his  hens,  you  find  one  that  will  say  they  are 
profitable.  Combine  either  egg  raising  or  chicken  grow- 
ing with  any  other  income  and  the  one  helps  the  other. 

One  of  the  most  successful  farmers  I  know  of  combines 
butter  making  with  egg  raising.  He  keeps  a  dozen  Jersey 
cows  and  three  hundred  early  pullets.  He  keeps  one 
breeding  yard,  and  from  that  each  year  he  hatches  his 
pullets,  getting  them  out  in  April.  They  are  of  the  Single 
Comb  Brown  Leghorn  breed.  They  begin  laying  in  the 
fall,  and  they  furnish  eggs  right  through  the  winter  and 


PROFITABLE   POULTRY  FARMING.  21 

•early  spring,  just  at  the  time  when  eggs  are  high.  His 
Jersey  cows  give  him  a  good  lot  of  rich  milk,  which  he 
turns  into  a  very  good  article  of  butter. 

Both  butter  and  eggs  being  staple  articles  there  is  no 
trouble  about  finding  a  ready  cash  sale.  I  might  add  this 
man  has  a  retail  custom.  Twice  a  week  he  goes  out  with 
Ms  wagon  to  a  nearby  city  and  delivers  to  private  custom. 
He  furnishes  the  best  of  butter  and  strictly  fresh  eggs,  and 
that  is  why  he  carries  the  best  trade. 

I  know  of  another  man  who  conducts  the  business  on  a 
different  scale.  He,  too,  keeps  poultry  and  cows.  But  he 
uses  his  eggs  for  broilers  and  roasting  fowls,  and  he  sells 
the  milk.  He  makes  a  good  income.  It  is  hard  to  say 
-which  of  the  two  methods  pays  the  best  In  labor  they  are 
about  equally  divided.  The  one  saves  labor  by  marketing 
Ms  eggs  and  not  turning  them  into  broilers,  while  the 
other  saves  labor  by  selling  his  milk  and  not  turning  it 
into  butter. 

There  seems  to  be  a  general  impression  that  unless  a 
fowl  has  the  run  of  a  whole  farm  it  will  not  thrive.  It  is 
not  acreage  that  a  fowl  wants  so  much  as  the  quality  of 
the  soil  upon  which  it  is  turned.  A  yard  50x100  feet,  sown 
to  grass,  can  not  be  entirely  destroyed  by  a  pen  of  eleven 
fowls,  and  this  pasture  will  afford  them  as  much  if  not 
more  benefit  than  a  farm  of  weeds  would.  I  get  more  eggs 
from  my  fowls — and  they  are  confined  to  yards — than  my 
neighbors  do  who  allow  their  poultry  to  go  where  they 
please.     I  more  fully  explain  this  later  on  in  this  chapter. 

I  am  so  often  asked  to  give  plans  for  a  model  poultry 
Tiouse.  What  is  meant  by  these  writers  for  a  model  house 
I  can  not  understand.  They  may  have  reference  to  archi- 
tecture more  than  comfort.  I  am  the  reverse.  In  my 
-estimation  a  model  house  is  one  regardless  of  outside  ap- 
pearance, perfect  on  the  interior.  I  want  the  house  warm 
in  winter  and  cool  in  summer.     I  want  it  well  ventilated. 


22  PROFITABLE   POULTRY   FARMING. 

I  want  it  kept  perfectly  clean.  For  styles  and  other  ar- 
rangements I  would  advise  the  reader  to  send  for  the  book 
entitled,  "Lee's  Ideas,"  advertised  in  this  work.  Mr. 
Lee's  ideas  are  practical,  and  no  poultryman  should  fail 
to  buy  a  copy. 

I  herewith  give  an  article  I  wrote  for  the  Germantowrt 
(Pa.)  Telegraph,  on  the  subject  of  eggs  in  winter,  which 
gives  my  methods,  and  which  I  think  will  be  of  some 
value  : 

"  Green  food  and  meat  are  acknowledged  to  be  the  proper 
feed,  along  with  the  mashes  and  grain,  for  eggs  in  winter. 
To  get  eggs  when  the  prices  are  high  is  not  such  a  great 
trick  as  some  people  would  suppose ;  and  the  fact  that  eggs 
are  scarce  during  the  cold  months  does  not  show  that  it  is 
impossible  for  the  hens  to  lay,  but  that  their  keepers  are 
not  so  well  booked  in  the  science.  If  hens  and  pullets 
receive  the  proper  food  and  attention  they  will  lay  even 
though  the  snow  be  a  foot  deep  on  the^ ground.  This  may 
sound  like  a  big  undertaking,  but  I  can  assure  my  readers 
that  my  hens  are  now  in  full  lay,  and  that  last  winter  they 
gave  us  eggs  right  along,  and  even  through  the  spring  and 
summer,  up  to  the  moulting  season.  I  think  I  can  lay 
some  claims  to  the  methods  I  have  adopted.  As  I  hold  no 
secrets,  I  will  give  my  plan :  Such  scraps  as  potato  par- 
ings, turnip  parings,  cabbage  leaves,  and  what  refuse  there 
is  generally  in  the  vegetable  line,  I  cook  each  day,  and  add 
to  the  soft  feed  in  the  morning.  The  last  thing  I  do  at 
night  is  to  take  equal  parts  of  bran,  middlings,  ground 
oats,  and  cornmeal,  and  scald  them  in  buckets,  leaving 
them  steam  until  morning,  when  they  and  the  vegetables 
are  thoroughly  mixed  and  fed  to  the  fowls  in  a  crumbly 
state.  Twice  a  week  I  put  a  little  condition  powder  in  the 
mixture,  to  stimulate  the  e^g,  organs.  (I  use  Sheridan's 
Powder,  as  with  me  it  has  given  the  best  results.)  And 
every  other  morning  I  add  a  pint  of  beef  scraps  to  a  buck- 


PROFITABLE   POULTRY  FARMING.  23 

etful  of  the  mixture.  A  pinch  of  salt  is  daily  added  to  a 
bucket  of  feed  to  give  it  the  proper  seasoning.  At  noon  I 
bury  wheat  in  litter  in  the  scratching  pens,  which  at  once 
puts  the  fowls  to  active  work,  and  which  they  keep  up, 
more  or  less,  until  supper  time,  when  I  give  them  a  feed  of 
oats.  If  the  weather  is  very  cold  I  give  whole  corn — not 
for  eggs — but  as  a  warmth  to  the  body,  as  corn  is  slower  in 
digestion.  Fowls  with  full  crops  never  freeze  or  mind  the 
cold  so  readily.  A  cabbage  head  always  hangs  up  in  the 
hen  house,  and  this  not  only  gives  them  good  greens,  but 
affords  considerable  exercise  in  their  efforts  to  pick  off 
pieces.  All  my  fowls  are  in  yards ;  about  in  a  space  of  one 
hundred  by  fifty  feet,  where  they  are  kept  the  entire  year, 
excepting  that  on  alternate  days  each  yard  is  allowed  the 
run  of  about  two  acres  sown  in  rye.  During  the  entire 
winter  they  are  thus  given  green  food,  and  when  in  spring 
the  rye  has  grown  high  enough  to  be  mowed  down ,  I  cut  it 
off  and  plow  up  the  land  and  sow  wheat,  and  when  that 
has  become  too  tall  I  follow  with  oats.  Then  I  begin  over 
again  with  rye,  and  so  on.  Thus  it  will  be  readily  seen 
that  the  fowls  are  always  supplied  with  greens  of  some 
kind.  Sharp  grit  and  ground  oyster  shells  are  constantly 
before  them,  and  I  have  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that 
my  fowls  are  continually  in  good  health,  and  are  profitable. 
"  So  much  for  feed.  But  there  are  other  conditions  that 
must  not  be  neglected,  and  which  go  far  towards  maintain- 
ing good  health  and  profit.  Each  pen  is  provided  with  a 
scratching  pen ;  here  the  birds  can  busy  themselves  during 
rainy  weather  or  when  the  snow  is  on  the  ground.  They 
also  seek  this  shelter  during  heavy  wind  storms,  and  to 
these  pens  I  give  the  credit  of  warding  off  much  sickness. 
Exposure  has  caused  more  disease  among  fowls  than  any- 
thing else,  unless  it  be  filth,  and  I  would  never  think  of 
erecting  a  hen  house  without  having  a  scratching  pen  ad- 
joining it.     My  houses  are  also  warm.     They  are  built  of 


24  PROFITABLE  POULTRY  FARMING. 

matched  boards,  and  lined  with  heavy  lining  paper.  The 
roofs  are  shingled,  I  take  great  care  in  keeping  the  houses 
clean,  never  allowing  the  manure  to  accumulate,  and  as  I 
have  a  platform  erected  below  each  row  of  roosts  the  drop- 
pings are  readily  caught.  After  I  have  gathered  the  ma- 
nure I  scatter  air  slacked  lime  over  the  platform.  Every 
now  and  then  I  pour  kerosene  over  the  perches,  and  thus  I 
keep  down  the  stench  so  common  in  many  poultry  houses 
on  the  farm,  and  my  fowls  are  comparatively  free  from  lice. 
This  is  a  great  point  in  poultry  keeping.  A  lousy  hen  can 
never  be  a  profitable  laying  hen,  and  very  often  disease  of 
some  sort  or  other  is  doctored  for,  when  in  reality  nothing 
more  is  wrong  than  the  life  being  gradually  sucked  out  of  the 
fowls  by  lice.  And  fresh  water  in  perfectly  clean  fountains 
must  be  given.  I  keep  the  fountains  sweet  by  occasionally 
scalding  them  out  with  hot  water  to  which  is  added  a  small 
lump  of  washing  soda  about  the  size  of  a  hazlenut. 

"So  much  for  general  care;  now  for  the  stock.  I  have 
mentioned  feed  first  because  I  deem  it  the  most  important. 
I  followed  with  general  care  because  in  my  estimation  it 
comes  next.  And  the  matter  of  stock  is  mentioned  last, 
not  that  I  consider  it  the  least  of  them,  but  from  the  fact 
that  it  matters  very  little  what  breeds  of  fowls  you  keep  so 
long  as  you  give  them  the  proper  feed  and  care.  By  that  I 
do  not  mean  that  one  breed  will  do  as  well  as  another,  for 
such  a  claim  would  not  be  reliable.  We  have  breeds  that  are 
built  for  egg  production,  and  we  have  breeds  for  meat.  Just 
the  same  as  we  have  a  difference  in  the  breeds  of  cows.  But 
I  do  mean  to  say  the  best  layers  in  the  country  will  not  re- 
spond to  indifferent  treatment.  I  knew  a  flock  of  Light 
Brahmas  that  laid  more  eggs  in  a  season  than  a  corre- 
sponding number  of  Brown  Leghorns  owned  by  another 
party.  The  reason  was  plain ;  the  Brahma  man  knew  how 
to  make  hens  lay.  Yet  I  would  not  advise  any  one  to  buy 
Brahmas  for  an  egg  farm.   Minorcas,  Leghorns,  Andalusians, 


PROFITABLE   POULTRY  FARMING.  25 

Anconas,  and  Spanish  are  best  adapted  for  that  work,  and 
if  handled  rightly  produce  large  records.  I  have  now 
special  reference  to  egg  farming,  where  the  product  is  to  be 
marketed.  At  present  I  have  Black  Minorcas  and  Brown 
and  White  Leghorns  for  eggs  and  these  I  hatch  out  in 
April  and  May,  from  which  hatches  I  select  the  finest  pul- 
lets for  laying  in  the  fall.  I  never  keep  hens  after  they  are 
two  years  old,  but  depend  principally  upon  my  pullets 
and  two-year  old  hens  for  my  eggs.  I  find  there  is  more 
money  in  fattening  and  marketing  the  two-year  old  fowls 
than  to  continue  them  in  the  yards  with  their  records  an- 
nually decreasing.  Thus  I  have  outlined  my  methods,  and 
give  them  for  what  they  are  worth.  I  do  not  by  any  means 
wish  to  imply  that  they  are  perfect,  but  that  they  are  so 
far  doing  well  with  me,  I  can  assure  those  who  are  inter- 
ested." 

In  connection  with  my  methods  as  given  above,  it  might 
be  profitable  to  give  those  of  Editor  A.  F.  Hunter,  of  Farm- 
Foultry.  The  following  extracts  are  taken  from  that  jour- 
nal: 

"  We  can  make  a  fowl  pay  us  a  net  profit  of  |2.50  to  |3  a 
year,  and  so  can  Mr.  C.  (or  anybody  else)  who  will  go  to 
work  right.  The  whole  secret  lies  in  that  oft  repeated  rule : 
^  Hatch  the  chicks  in  April,  keep  them  growing  so  the 
pullets  will  lay  by  October,  and  then  keep  them  laying.' 
There's  no  magic  about  it,  no  'sleight  of  hand,'  but  that 
plain  simple  rule  lived  up  to  and  everything  made  to  bend  to 
it  or  revolve  around  it.  It  doesn't  do  to  let  the  hatching  go 
till  May  or  June  because  other  work  needs  to  be  done.  If 
other  work  runs  up  against  the  hatching  season  or  chicken 
work  so  much  the  worse  for  the  other  work,  for  '  chickens 
have  the  right  of  way.'  An  important  item  in  our  creed 
is  that  the  old  stock  be  sold  off  each  summer  and  pullets 
raised  to  take  its  place.  By  doing  this  the  price  received 
for  the  old  stock  swells  the  total  receipts,  as  the  pullets 


26  PROFITABLE   POULTRY   FARMING. 

cost  nothing  to  raise — the  cockerels  hatched  with  them 
sell  for  enough  to  pay  for  the  food  of  both  themselves  and 
the  pullets. 

"  Five  mornings  in  the  week  we  feed  a  mash  made  up  of 
about  a  third  cooked  vegetables  mashed  fine,  or  cut  clover 
cooked  by  being  brought  to  a  boiling  heat  in  water,  an 
equal  amount  of  boiling  hot  water  added,  a  heaping  tea- 
spoonful  of  salt  to  a  bucketful ;  a  heaping  teaspoonful  of 
Sheridan's  Condition  Powder  two  days,  then  cayenne  one 
day,  Condition  Powder  two  days,  then  powdered  charcoal 
one ;  and  into  this  is  stirred  mixed-meal  until  the  mash  is- 
as  stiff  as  a  strong  arm  can  make  it. 

"  This  mixed-meal  with  us  consists  of  one  part  each  corn 
meal,  fine  middlings,  bran,  ground  oats,  and  Animal  Meal, 
a  scoop  or  dipper  of  each  being  dipped  in  turn  into  a  bagr 
and  poured  from  the  bag  into  the  meal  barrel  from  which 
it  is  dipped  into  the  mash.  We  consider  the  thorough 
mixing  of  these  meals  a  considerable  factor  in  making  a 
good  mash. 

"  When  we  have  cut  fresh  bone  in  abundance  we  omit  the 
Animal  Meal  from  the  mixture ;  ordinarily  we  have  only 
about  half-rations  of  cut  bone  to  go  round,  so  use,  regularly,, 
half  the  amount  of  Animal  Meal  to  make  up  the  deficiency. 
.  "  The  foundation  of  the  mash  is  the  cooked  vegetables,, 
which  may  be  refuse  potatoes,  beets,  carrots,  turnips,, 
onions  (anything  in  the  vegetable  line),  and  into  the  pot 
goes  the  table  waste,  potato  parings,  etc.,  and  the  potato y, 
squash,  and  apple  parings  from  the  kitchen.  The  potatoes, 
or  beets,  etc.,  are  washed  before  putting  onto  cook,  and 
the  mess  when  boiled  is  sweet  and  savory. 

"  This  mash,  our  readers  will  notice,  contains  a  great  va- 
riety of  food  elements,  and  this  variety  is  a  quite  important 
factor.  A  fowl  needs  a  variety  of  food  to  supply  her  vari- 
ous physical  needs,  and  give  her  a  surplus  out  of  which  to 
make  eggs,  and  this  '  variety  '  of  foods  we  believe  we  can 


PROFITABLE  POULTRY  FARMING.  27 

best  attain  in  the  manner  described  above.  An  additional 
advantage  is  that  a  tonic  or  stimulant  can  be  added  if  de- 
sired ;  we  sometimes  substitute  a  teaspoonful  of  tincture 
of  iron  for  the  condiment,  and  sometimes  add  a  handful  of 
linseed  meal  or  cottonseed  meal ;  but  the  latter  are  some- 
what fattening  (as  well  as  stimulating),  and  those  who  feed 
their  fowls  well  must  beware  of  too  fattening  foods. 
.  "This  morning  mash  is  fed  in  troughs  large  enough  so 
that  all  of  the  fifteen  fowls  in  a  pen  can  get  about  it  at  one 
time ;  another  important  factor,  because  if  the  trough  is 
small  some  of  the  birds  have  to  stand  back  and  wait  for 
second  table,  and  when  their  chance  does  come  there's 
nothing  left  for  them.  With  a  trough  4  feet  long  by  6  inch- 
es wide,  there  is  plenty  of  room,  and  if  a  biddy  is  driven 
away  from  one  place  she  runs  around  and  goes  to  eating  at 
another,  and  thus  all  get  a  share. 

"  Our  fowls  have  exercise  ground  in  summer  in  yards  125 
xl2  feet,  which  gives  them  a  grass-run  (with  growing  grass 
always  in  the  growing  season),  and  they  will  take  ample 
exercise  in  pleasant  weather.  To  keep  them  out  of  doors 
the  noon  feed  of  whole  barley  (or  buckwheat)  and  night 
feed  (before  sunset)  of  what  is  scattered  upon  a  graveled 
space  immediately  in  front  of  the  houses.  Each  family  of 
fifteen  has  a  pen  within  the  house  12  feet  square,  or  144 
square  feet  of  floor-space,  which  gives  about  10  square  feet 
per  fowl.  The  floor  is  the  earth,  covered  about  six  inches 
deep  with  screened  gravel.  On  the  gravel  the  grain  is 
scattered  in  stormy  weather  in  spring,  summer  and  early 
fall,  when  we  want  the  birds  to  stay  in-door s.  When  cold 
weather  approaches,  exercise  must  be  stimulated,  and  we 
cover  the  pen-floors  three  or  four  inches  deep  with  chopped 
meadow-hay,  or  chopped  straw,  into  which  the  grain  is 
scattered,  and  the  biddies  have  to  dig  it  out.  Some  poul- 
trymen  use  dry  leaves  for  pen-litter ;  chafi"  from  a  thresh- 
ing mill  would  be  most  excellent  (nothing  could  be  bet- 


28  PROFITABLE  POULTRY  FARMING. 

ter),  and  we  have  found  one  or  two  cases  where  common 
cornstalks  were  used.  With  us  straw  or  meadow-hay  is 
most  easily  obtained,  and  we  use  that.  What  the  scratch- 
ing material  is  is  of  far  less  importance  than  that  the 
scratching  material  is  there. 

'*  Whole  wheat  is  the  best  grain-food  for  fowls,  whole  barley 
is  the  nest  bext,  and  buckwheat  next.  We  make  barley  or 
buckwheat  the  noon  feed  five  days  in  the  week,  and  wheat 
the  night  feed  five  or  six  days  in  the  week.  We  do  not 
make  the  mash  on  Sunday,  because  we  want  to  reduce  the 
work  to  its  lowest  terms  on  that  day,  doing  no  more  than 
the  regular  feedings  and  waterings,  and  collecting  the  eggs. 

"  Monday  we  feed  oats  (or  barley),  wheat,  whole  corn. 

"  Tuesday  we  feed  mash,  barley  (or  buckwheat),  wheat. 

"  Wednesday  we  feed  mash,  cut  bone,  wheat. 

"  Thursday  we  feed  oats,  barley,  wheat  (or  corn.} 

"  Friday  we  feed  mash,  barley,  wheat. 

"Saturday  we  feed  mash,  cut  bone,  wheat. 

"Sunday  we  feed  mash,  barley  (or  buckwheat),  wheat. 

"  Two  feeds  of  cut  bone  each  week,  one  or  two  of  whole 
oats,  and  one  or  two  of  whole  corn  (according  to  the  sea- 
son), give  variety  to  our  ration,  and  to  that  is  added  whole 
cabbages  hung  in  the  pens  in  cold  weather  to  tempt  picking 
them  to  get  green  food;  or  turnips,  or  beets,  or  carrots 
are  split  in  halves  and  placed  in  pens  to  be  picked  in  pieces 
and  eaten. 

"  Ground  oj^ster  shells  are  always  accessible,  and  fresh 
water,  replenished  three  times  a  day  (warm  in  winter),  and 
the  water-pans  are  carefully  rinsed  every  day. 

"One  variation  from  this  program  we  purpose  making 
this  winter,  and  that  is  a  slightly  lighter  feed  of  mash  in 
the  morning,  making  it  a  breakfast  rather  than  a  full 
meal,  and  then  scatter  barley  or  buckwheat  in  the  scratch- 
ing material  about  mid  forenoon  (and  the  last  feed  mid 


PROFITABLE   POULTRY  FARMING.  29" 

afternoon),  to  induce  even  more  scratching  exercise.  To 
search  and  scratch  for  seeds,  grains,  insects,  etc.,  is  the 
fowl's  normal  method  of  feeding,  and  the  nearer  we  ap- 
proximate to  nature's  way  the  better;  hence  the  greatest 
possible  amount  of  exercise  should  be  compelled." 


30 


PROFITABLE  POULTRY  FARMING. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


HOW     TO     TEST     EGGS  —  POULTRY     AND     FRUIT  —  BROILERS 

AND   BERRIES HOW  THE   SCHEME    WORKS    IN    HAM- 

MONTON  —  SPECIALTIES     IN     VEGETABLES  —  A     GEN- 
ERAL  POULTRY  FARM. 

Eggs  should  always  be  tested 
on  the  seventh  and  fourteenth 
days,  whether  they  are  set  in 
an  incubator  or  under  the 
hen.  By  testing  you  make 
room,  and  can  use  the  eggs 
that  will  not  hatch  for  feed- 
ing purposes.  I  break  them 
up  raw  in  the  morning  mash, 
and  believe  they  are  benefi- 
cial to  the  fowls.  Of  course, 
too  many  of  them  might  not 
be  well.  I  generally  count 
about  one  egg  to  two  fowls. 
The  illustrations  in  this  issue  show  how  the  testing  is  done, 
how  the  germ  looks  on  the  seventh  day,  and  the  appear- 
ance ot  the  egg  when  there  is  sufficient  moisture.  The 
Illustrations  are  accurate,  and  were  kindly  loaned  by  the 
Prairie  State  Incubator  Company.  It  will  be  seen  that  the 
egg  on  the  seventh  day  presents  a  "  regular  spider,"  and 
proves  that  the  germ  is  strong,  and  under  the  proper  con- 
ditions will  hatch  a  strong  chick.  If  any  of  the  germs 
die,  it  can  be  seen  by  a  distinct  red  line  in  the  form  of  a 
circle,  about  the  size  of  a  silver  dollar.  These,  as  well  as 
those  perfectly  clear,  should  be  removed  at  once,  which 


PROFITABLE   POULTRY   FARMING. 


31 


will  prevent  the  foul  odor  in  the  machine,  so  common 
when  the  eggs  are  not  tested.  Each  day  of  incubation  the 
eggs  become  darker  and  darker,  until  the  fourteenth  day 
the  chick  can  be  seen  to  move.  If  any  should  die  after  the 
first  test,  they  will  be  noticed  to  float  when  the  eggs  is 
turned,  and  no  veins  will  be  seen. 


32  PROFITABLE   POULTRY   FARMING. 

By  referring  to  the  illustration  of  two  eggs,  lines  will 
be  seen  with  figures  on  the  side  of  the  egg  to  show  the 
size  of  the  air  cell  on  the  days  indicated.  The  smallest 
egg  represents  a  hen's  egg,  and  the  figures  show  the  size  of 
the  air  cell  on  the  fifth,  tenth,  fifteenth  and  nineteenth 
days.  The  larger  egg  is  that  of  a  duck,  and  the  air  cell  is 
shown  on  the  first,  seventh,  thirteenth,  twenty  apd  twenty- 
sixth  days.  In  their  book  of  instruction,  the  Prairie  State 
Company  says  "to  increase  the  size  of  air  cells,  open  the 
ventilators  and  run  with  little  or  no  water.  To  retard 
development,  give  full  pan  surface  of  water,  and  close  ven- 
tilators, but  not  enough  to  interfere  with  ventilation.  The 
egg  tester  will  show  the  size  of  the  air  cell  at  any  time." 

Poultry  and  fruit  make  a  good  combination,  and  those 
who  follow  it  generally  keep  the  poultry  for  eggs  only, 
and  plant  the  trees  in  among  the  fowls.  That  it  is  profit- 
able to  both  fowls  and  trees,  to  have  this  combination,  I 
will  make  a  few  selections : 

The  Poultry  Guide  says :  "We  have  sixteen  apple  trees,, 
now  seven  years  old,  standing  in  and  around  our  poultry 
yards.  Some  of  these,  standing  directly  in  the  run  of  the 
fowls,  have  had  as  many  apples  as  any  five  of  the  trees  on 
the  outside.  This  is  conclusive  evidence  that  the  one  is 
beneficial  to  the  other.  .  .  .  Some  have  been  literally 
hanging  with  nice  apples,  and  so  heavily  laden  that  we 
were  compelled  to  keep  the  limbs  well  propped  to  keep 
them  from  breaking  down.  .  .  .  We  at  the  same  time  get 
the  needed  shade  while  we  get  a  beautiful  supply  of  de- 
licious fruit." 

The  Mirror  and  Farmer  says:  "Those  engaged  in  fruit, 
growing  do  not  keep  many  animals,  hence  are  not  so  busy 
in  the  winter  season  as  the  stock  raisers.  There  is  no  rea- 
son why  fruit  growers  should  not  make  poultry  a  specialty 
in  winter.  An  orchard  is  certainly  not  injured  by  fowls> 
and  if  observation  is  made,  it  will  be  found  that  the  hens 


PROFITABLE  POULTRY  FARMING.  33 

are  of  assistance  in  many  ways.  The  broiler  raisers  of 
New  Jersey  pay  no  attention  to  poultry  from  April  to  Oc- 
tober, but  after  the  fruit  is  harvested  they  are  as  busy  as 
bees  hatching  chicks  with  incubators.  But  for  the  winter 
pursuit  of  broiler  raising,  they  would  be  idle  for  five 
months  in  the  year.  The  farms  are  small,  ranging  from 
five  to  ten  acres,  yet  the  fruit  growers  make  larger  profits 
than  are  secured  on  some  farms  of  a  hundred  or  more 
acres.  They  raise  fruit  in  the  summer  and  poultry  in  the 
winter." 

The  American  Cultivator  says:  "If  the  hen  house  is  built 
in  the  orchard  the  fowls  will  do  good  work  in  keeping 
down  the  insect  pests  that  destroy  every  year  so  much  of 
our  finest  fruit.  They  do  this  both  by  scratching  about  the 
trees  and  by  eating  the  imperfect  fruit  that  falls,  thus 
destroying  the  grub  before  it  is  time  to  burrow  in  the 
ground." 

The  Poultryman  says :     "  Your  birds  need  shade  as  well  as 

sun.  Set  out  a  few  plum-trees  in  the  yard  and  the  hens 
will  destroy  the  grub  and  enrich  the  soil,  so  that  by  little 
trouble  and  expense  you  can  raise  some  of  the  most  de- 
licious fruit." 

The  Fanciers^  Journal  says :     ' '  Poultry  raising  and  fruit 

culture  go  hand  in  hand,  and  may  be  combined  on  the 

same  ground.    An  orchard  is  much  benefited  by  allowing 

fowls  free  range,  as  the  crop  of  harmful  insects  is  kept 

down." 

Farm-Poultry  says:     "Fruit  is  a  considerable  source  of 

income  on  the  farm  of  A.  C.  Hawkins,  Lancaster,  Massa- 
chusetts, he  having  set  several  thousand  plum-trees  in  his 
poultry  yards,  where  they  furnish  needed  shade  from  the 
hot  summer  sun  and  draw  nourishment  for  tremendous 
crops  of  this  luscious  fruit,  of  which  he  shipped  over  one 
thousand  bushels  to  market  last  season." 

George  J.  Mssly,  proprietor  of  the  Michigan  Poultry 
Farm,  Saline,  Michigan,  says:     "We  combine  fruit  grow- 


34  PROFITABLE   POULTRY   FARMING. 

ing  with  our  poultry  business,  and  find  that,  if  properly 
managed,  no  two  branches  of  business  go  more  profitably 
and  nicely  together  than  these.  Each  helps  the  other,  and 
we  virtually  get  two  crops  from  the  same  ground.  In  our 
yards  we  plant  plum,  pear,  and  quince-trees ;  while  on  our 
grounds  used  for  growing  young  stock  we  also  grow  large 
quantities  of  raspberries,  blackberries,  grapes,  and  straw- 
berries. These  fruit  grounds  make  a  splendid  place  for  the 
chicks,  it  only  being  necessary  to  exclude  them  from  the 
strawberry  grounds  a  short  time  during  the  ripening 
season." 

In  the  town  of  Hammonton,  nearly  every  broiler  raiser 
is  a  fruit  grower.  Strawberries,  raspberries,  and  blackber- 
ries are  raised  in  large  quantities  during  the  summer  and 
broilers  in  the  winter.  It  is  a  profitable  combination  with 
the  Hammontonians,  and  it  would  be  hard  to  get  them  to 
depart  from  their  plan. 

Some  do  not  make  a  specialty  of  fruit,  but  engage  in 
vegetable  growing  to  some  extent.  Specialties  are  often 
used,  such  as  the  growing  of  onions,  lima  beans,  and  sweet 
potatoes.  All  these  notions  may  be  profitable  to  the  man 
who  wishes  to  make  up  a  combination  he  may  like  best. 

The  question  has  been  asked  me,  What  is  a  general  poul- 
try farm  ?  Answers  to  that  question  may  differ.  To  my 
idea  the  best  general  poultry  farm  would  be  one  that  would 
combine  egg  and  fruit  growing  with  the  raising  of  broilers, 
roasters,  and  ducklings.  Keep  the  April  and  May  pullets 
for  eggs,  grow  the  fruits  in  the  poultry  runs,  raise  the 
broilers  when  the  prices  of  eggs  decline,  sell  off  annually 
all  the  two  year  old  fowls  for  roasters,  and  hatch  the  duck^ 
lings  during  their  season.  By  a  little  management  in  this 
plan  a  steady  income  could  be  secured,  and  there  would  be 
a  big  profit.  I  merely  give  these  combination  hints  to 
show  what  can  be  done ;  the  reader  must  make  his  own 
decisions,  and  in  his  energies  lie  all  the  means  of  success. 


PROFITABLE   POULTRY  FARMING.  35 


CHAPTER  V. 


THE  ATLANTIC  DUCK  FARM  —  DUCK  CULTURE  FOR  PROFIT — 
SIZE  OF  HOUSES  —  HOW  THE  BREEDING  DUCKS  ARE 
FED — HOW  THE  DUCKLINGS  ARE  FED— HOW  TO  DRESS 
DUCKLINGS   FOR   MARKET — OTHER   USEFUL   POINTS. 

Last  fall  I  paid  a  visit  to  the  duck  farms  of  Long  Island, 
which  I  consider  one  of  the  most  profitable  trips  I  ever 
m.ade,  inasmuch  as  I  witnessed  the  industry  in  successful 
operation.  The  following  description  I  wrote  for  Farm- 
Poultry,  of  Boston,  Massachusetts,  and  to  which  journal  I 
am  indebted  for  its  reproduction  here : 

"When,  in  1858,  the  late  W.  W.  Hallock  inaugurated 
duck  culture  at  Speonk,  Long  Island,  beginning  on  a  small 
scale,  little  did  he  expect  that  from  his  small  beginning 
SQch  large  proportions  would  be  assumed  as  are  now  ap- 
parent on  the  present  Atlantic  Farm.  The  venture  was 
at  first  made  as  an  experiment,  and  hens  employed  to  do 
the  hatching  and  brooding,  but  the  plant  grew  steadily. 
Later  on,  Mr.  Hallock's  son-in-law,  Mr.  S.  B.  Wilcox,  was 
taken  into  partnership,  and  Mr.  A.  J.  Hallock  (the  present 
proprietor)  was  installed  in  the  position  of '  feeder.'  After 
the  son-in-law  withdrew  from  the  firm  to  start  a  farm  of 
his  own,  the  son  (Mr.  A.  J.  Hallock)  was  taken  in,  and  the 
firm  name  changed  to  W.  W.  Hallock  &  Son.  Under  this 
m.anagement  the  business  prospered  and  the  capacity 
Increased  each  year.    Last  year  the  senior  member  of  the 


36  PROFITABLE  POULTRY  FARMING. 

firm  died,  and  the  business  passed  into  the  hands  of  the 
present  owner,  who  is  doing  his  very  best  to  make  it 
second  to  no  other  duck  farm  in  the  United  States.  There 
is  a  world  of  enterprise  in  Mr.  Hallock,  who,  although  a 
young  man  yet,  possesses  a  wonderful  business  ability, 
which,  combined  with  the  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
business,  fits  him  admirably  for  the  work.  One  thousand 
breeding  ducks  are  kept,  and  these  are  the  cream  selected 
from  between  twenty  and  twenty-five  thousand  ducklings 
hatched.  Ducks  weighing  twelve  pounds  each  are  com- 
mon, while  some  reach  more  than  that  weight.  A  number 
were  picked  up  at  random,  and  weighed  and  examined, 
showing  that  Mr.  Hallock' s  aim  to  have  the  best  specimens, 
both  regarding  weight  and  other  characteristics,  has  been 
well  carried  out.  In  order  to  secure  birds  of  such  qualities, 
no  particular  strains  have  been  adopted,  but  the  choicest 
selections  have,  from  time  to  time,  been  made  from  breed- 
ers all  over  the  country. 

"  Each  pen  is  supplied  with  large  ponds  of  water,  and  it 
is  a  beautiful  sight  to  watch  the  birds  darting  in  the  water, 
flapping  their  wings,  and  perform  all  sorts  of  interesting 
antics.  Notwithstanding  all  former  claims  that  ducks  do 
as  well  without  bathing  water  as  with  it,  the  fact  was 
clearly  demonstrated  on  this  visit,  that  bathing  water 
stimulates  exercise  and  keeps  them  in  a  healthier  and 
more  desirable  condition.  Some  of  the  farms  on  the  Island 
do  not  adopt  the  water  plan,  but  a  careful  comparison 
showed  that  those  birds  kept  in  the  natural  state  have  a 
great  advantage,  to  say  nothing  about  the  labor  saved  in 
supplying  them  with  water  to  drink.  Mr.  Hallock  also 
informed  your  correspondent  that  by  having  bathing 
water  supplied  each  pen,  a  less  number  of  drakes  are  nec- 
essary in  a  flock.  From  seven  to  nine  ducks  are  given  a 
drake  in  the  beginning  of  the  season,  and  as  the  season 
draws  to  a  close  as  many  as  twelve  are  allowed.    Another 


PROFITABLE   POULTRY  FARMING.  37 

point  in  the  argument  is  that  ducks  supplied  with  bathing; 
Tv^ater  save  the  process  of  washing  before  dressing  for  mar- 
ket. As  the  feathers  must  be  perfectly  clean  before  they 
can  be  marketed,  it  is  necessary  to  carefully  wash  all  land 
ducks  before  they  are  dressed,  which  consumes  consider- 
able time,  and  which  can  not  be  performed  as  thoroughly 
as  when  the  birds  are  given  an  opportunity  of  doing  the 
work  themselves.  Aside  from  these  advantages,  however, 
Mr.  Hallock  thinks  there  is  no  difference  regarding 
iveights,  that  ducks  confined  to  land  can  be  made  as 
heavy  as  those  given  water,  and  vice  versa. 

"The  houses  for  the  breeding-pens  measure  13x13  feet, 
and  the  runs  26x125  feet,  of  which  26x36  feet  is  water.  In 
each  of  these  pens  about  thirty-five  ducks  are  kept.  The 
floors  of  the  houses  are  earth,  bedded  with  salt  hay.  An 
elevated  railway  is  being  constructed  for  the  purpose  of 
■conveying  the  feed  to  the  birds.  This  will  be  the  means  of 
saving  much  labor. 

"  The  incubator  cellar  is  certainly  the  most  systematic 
arrangement  I  ever  saw.  It  is  built  of  brick,  and  the  earth 
banked  up  on  the  sides  and  ends.  It  measures  24x50  feet, 
and  will  hold  thirty-three  large  sized  machines.  The  floor 
is  cemented.  In  order  to  make  the  building  still  more 
serviceable  for  incubating,  the  walls  are  double,  with  a 
four-inch  space  between  them.  The  ventilation  of  the 
building  is  very  good,  and  consists  of  flues  on  each  end  of 
the  room. 

"Three  large  brooding  houses  are  employed,  each  with 
a  capacity  of  two  thousand.  Top  heat  is  furnished  by  hot 
^water  pipes,  the  Spence  heaters  being  used. 

"  The  breeding  ducks  are  fed  a  mixture  made  up  as  fol- 
lows :  Four  pails  cornmeal,  two  pails  bran,  one  pail 
middlings,  one  pail  oats,  and  one  pail  wheat.  These  are 
mixed  with  two  bushels  chopped  grass  or  greens — chopped 
clover  hay  being  substituted  when  green  stuff  is  scarce. 


38  PROFITABLE   POULTUY  FARMING. 

The  grass  used  is  what  is  known  as  eel  or  creek  grass, 
taken  from  the  bottoms  of  the  creeks  and  brought  ashore 
on  floats.  It  is  chopped  up  fine  when  fed.  One  hundred 
and  thirty-five  eggs  a  year  Mr.  Hallock  claims  as  an  aver- 
age in  his  flocks,  and  these  show  remarkable  fertility, 
which  speaks  well  for  his  system  of  feeding. 

"For  ducklings  the  food  for  first  week  is  as  follows: 
Equal  parts  cornmeal,  middlings,  and  crackers  or  stale 
bread,  and  green  food.  A  small  handful  of  sand  is  mixed 
with  every  quart  of  the  food.  Bread  soaked  with  milk  is 
sometimes  given  for  a  change.  No  milk  is  given  to  drink, 
as  they  get  it  in  their  feathers,  which  makes  them  sticky 
and  easily  pulled  out.  The  second  week  the  following 
composition  is  given:  Four  parts  cornmeal,  two  parts 
bran,  two  parts  middlings,  one  part  beef  scraps,  and  about 
the  same  quantity  of  sand  as  is  given  the  first  week.  The 
above  is  mixed  with  about  one-third  of  the  quantity  of 
green  stuff.  At  about  six  weeks  of  age  the  ducklings  are 
put  into  the  fattening  pens  and  fed  two-thirds  meal,  and 
the  balance  one-third  of  bran,  middlings,  and  greens. 
About  one-seventh  or  one-eighth  the  amount  of  meat 
scraps.  The  ducklings  are  marketed  when  about  five 
pounds  in  weight.  Last  year  forty-five  cents  per  pound 
was  realized  in  April,  and  as  the  season  advanced  the  price 
decreased,  until  in  August  it  reached  seventeen  cents. 
The  loss  is  variously  estimated  at  from  five  to  ten  per  cent. 

"  The  picking  is  done  mostly  by  women.  As  soon  as  the 
birds  are  stabbed  they  are  placed  in  a  convenient  place  and 
scalded,  the  water  for  that  purpose  being  just  brought  to  a 
boil.  The  plan  of  operation  is  so  minutely  described  by 
G.  A.  McFetridge,  in  his  book  on  poultry,  that  I  will  make 
a  few  extracts  from  that,  by  his  permission.  Mr.  McFet- 
ridge has  charge  of  the  incubators  on  the  Atlantic  Farm : 

'"Two  posts  are  planted  in  the  ground  about  ten  feet 
apart.     The  posts  are  either  mortised  or  a  notch  sawed  in 


PROFITABLE   POULTRY   FARMING.  39 

them  near  the  top,  five  feet  from  the  ground.  A  rail  is 
then  spiked  in  these  notches,  and  strings  fastened  to  the 
rail  with  loops  to  hold  the  feet  of  the  ducks.  As  many  pegs 
are  driven  in  the  ground  underneath  the  rail  to  correspond 
with  the  number  of  strings.  To  these  are  fastened  a  short 
piece  of  wire,  the  top  of  which  is  bent  in  the  shape  of  a 
hook,  which  is  fastened  into  the  duck's  nose.  This  pre- 
vents the  duck  from  swingisig  its  head  around  and  soiling 
its  feathers  with  blood. 

"'In  dressing,  the  breast  feathers  are  removed  as  soon 
as  possible.  The  feathers  on  the  head,  a  few  on  the  neck, 
the  flights  in  the  wings,  and  the  tail  feathers  are  left  on. 
Duck  feathers  bring  about  forty  cents  per  pound,  which 
about  pays  for  the  picking.' 

"In  addition  to  the  one  thousand  breeding  ducks  that 
Mr.  Hallock  keeps,  he  also  has  about  five  hundred  laying 
hens.  Outside  of  the  duck  season  he  utilizes  the 
eggs  in  the  incubators  for  broilers,  and  when  duck  eggs 
claim  the  machines  the  eggs  are  marketed.  As  the  duck 
season  only  opens  in  February,  and  closes  about  the  latter 
part  of  September,  the  broilers  can  be  gotten  out  and 
marketed  at  the  very  season  when  prices  are  at  their  best. 
Mr.  Hallock's  combination  is  certainly  a  good  one.  Eggs 
for  hatching  are  also  sold  from  this  farm,  and  Mr.  Hallock 
informed  me  that  the  past  season  he  disposed  of  twenty 
thousand  eggs  from  his  advertisement  in  Farm- Poultry. 

"Aside  from  the  above  farm  there  are  a  score  or  more  of 
prominent  ranches  in  this  immediate  section  of  the  island. 
Mr.  Hallock's  is  the  largest,  and  that  of  E.  O.  Wilcox  prob- 
ably comes  next.  Mr.  Wilcox's  house  for  his  breeders  is 
two  stories  high.  On  the  first  floors  are  pens  13x17  feet. 
On  the  second  floor  are  kept  hens  for  eggs. 

"On  the  farm  of  S.  B.  Wilcox,  at  Centre  Moriches,  are 
kept  about  six  hundred  breeders,  and  twenty-three  incu- 
bators are  run  during  the  season.     A  noticeable  feature  in 


40  PROFITABLE   POULTRY  FARMING. 

the  picker  house  on  this  farm  is  a  running  stream  of  ice 
cold  water,  which  is  valuable  in  plumping  the  birds  after 
they  are  dressed. 

"The  Pekin  duck  is  exclusively  kept  on  the  Island.  In 
the  early  days  of  the  business  the  Muscovy  was  the  only 
available  breed,  but  since  the  Pekin  has  been  introduced 
into  this  country  the  Muscovy  has  been  crowded  out.  A 
man  with  four  hundred  Pekins  makes  a  good  living,  and 
several  instances  were  shown  where  even  such  a  small 
flock  as  one  hundred  ducks  give  a  handsome  return.  Of 
course,  there  is  considerable  work  attached  to  the  business, 
but  when  properly  managed  the  Long  Islanders  claim  there 
is  more  profit  in  duck  culture  than  broiler  raising. 

"  Of  incubators  the  most  prominent  are  the  Prairie  State, 
Monarch,  Thermostatic,  and  Pineland.  For  brooding,  the 
Spence,  Gurney,  and  Bramhall  heaters  are  the  most  used. 
The  partitions  in  the  brooding  houses  are  less  expensive 
than  in  broiler  houses,  as  a  one- foot  board  uprighted  is 
sufficient  to  separate  each  pen. 

"  The  experience  gleaned  from  this  visit,  coupled  with 
what  Mr.  James  Rankin  has  repeatedly  assured  us,  shows 
that  duck  culture  as  an  industry  can  be  made  a  most  prof- 
itable one.  And  if  the  branches  of  practical  farming,  duck 
culture,  broiler  and  egg  raising  are  combined,  there  is  a 
good  living  assured,  providing  the  man  and  the  accommo- 
dations are  equal.  If  proper  care  is  given  the  work  the 
loss  is  considerably  less  than  with  broilers — the  latter  runs 
at  first  from  forty  to  fifty  per  cent,  while  the  former  is 
from  five  to  ten  per  cent." 


PROFITABLE  POULTRY  FARMING.  41 


REVIEW  OF  OUR  ADVERTISERS. 


MANY  USEFUL   THINGS    INVENTED,   AND   WHICH  ARE   RELI- 
ABLE  GOODS   FROM  RELIABLE   PARTIES. 


The  large  amount  of  advertising  in  this  work  should  not 
be  a  drawback,  for  the  object  of  the  work  is  to  supply  the 
reader  with  all  the  information  that  could  be  given  in  this 
narrow  scope.  Besides  knowing  what  to  do,  the  beginner 
wishes  to  know  where  he  can  buy  what  he  needs,  and  I  am 
proud  to  say  that  I  have  gathered  about  me  a  good  array 
of  reliable  goods  from  reliable  parties.  The  comments  I 
herewith  give  are  honest,  and  I  know  my  readers  will  be 
dealt  with  in  a  business  manner. 

Sheridan's  Condition  Powder  is  no  new  preparation.  It 
has  been  on  the  market  for  years,  and  is  an  excellent  arti- 
cle. I  should  not  think  of  being  without  it,  and  the  longer 
I  use  it  the  better  do  I  like  it.  For  years  I  have  been  op- 
posed to  condition  powders,  and  while  I  still  believe  there 
are  more  worthless  preparations  on  the  market  than  good 
ones,  I  have  become  convinced  that  for  keeping  fowls  in  a 
healthy  and  laying  condition,  Sheridan's  Powder  stands 
alone. 

I  am  now  making  experiments  with  the  Invincible  Incu- 
bator, and  I  regret  that  I  am  unable  to  give  the  result  in  this 
notice,  but  this  much  I  can  say,  I  am  more  than  pleased  with 
what  experience  I  have  had  with  the  machine,  and  shall 
gladly  give  my  opinion  to  all  inquirers  after  the  season  is 
over.  The  brooder  advertised  by  the  same  party  is  a  prac- 
tical one. 

I  am  also  making  experiments  with  the  Monitor  Incuba- 
tor.   A  visitor  at  my  place  the  other  day  remarked  that  he 


42  PROFITABLE   POULTRY   FARMING. 

has  been  running  the  machine  for  some  time,  and  he  only 
knows  of  one  improvement  in  it,  and  that  is,  an  attach- 
ment to  fill  the  lamp  with  oil,  and  he  believed  the  machine 
would  do  all  the  work  itself.  It  works  to  a  nicety,  keeps 
uniform  heat,  and  gives  excellent  results. 

The  Pineland  Incubator  is  substantially  built,  and  is 
practical  all  the  way  through.  I  know  of  grand  hatches 
made  by  it,  and  have  never  heard  of  a  complaint  against 
it.  The  Pineland  Brooders  are  unexcelled.  I  use  a  com- 
plete Pineland  system  on  my  farm,  and  would  not  do  with- 
out it.  For  brooding  ducks  I  find  it  better  than  any  brood- 
er I  ever  used. 

Geo.  H.  Stahl,  the  manufacturer  of  the  Excelsior  Incuba- 
tor, has  greatly  improved  his  machine  th  s  season,  and  it  is 
now  made  of  the  very  best  parts  of  thirty-eight  different 
patents,  among  them  being  the  Thermostatic,  Perfect 
Hatcher,  Halstead  Centennial,  Andrews,  White  Mountain, 
and  Success ;  together  with  the  best  parts  of  the  old  Ex- 
celsior. 

The  Hammonton  Incubators  and  Brooders  are  plain  but 
practical.  There  are  large  broiler  farms  in  Hammonton. 
that  will  use  no  other.  The  machines  are  well  made,  and 
do  excellent  work.  By  these  incubators  and  brooders,  the 
broiler  business  was  successfully  started  here. 

The  "Peep  O'Day"  brooder  is  a  common  sense  mother 
for  the  young  chicks,  and  as  it  comes  highly  endorsed  by 
Editor  Hunter  there  is  very  little  left  for  me  to  say  in  its 
favor. 

Jas.  E.  Warner,  who  advertises  incubator  supplies,  is  re- 
liable. 

The  Chelton  Brooder  is  cheap  and  good.  It  is  annually 
gaining  a  great  niany  friends. 

The  Plymouth  Incubator  is  considered  one  of  the  best 
machines  made  in  New  England.  No  incubator  manufac- 
tured enjoys  a  better  reputation  than  this  one  does,  and  the 
sales  are  annually  increasing. 

The  duck  eg^s  shipped  from  the  Atlantic  Farm  are  re- 
markably fertile,  and  the  fact  that  over  twenty  thousand 
were  sold  last  year  is  an  excellent  rec  ommendation.  (See 
Chapter  V. ) 

I  desire  to  call  spec  al  attention  to  the  advertisement  of 
the  Sunlight  Porous  (^arbon  Wick.  This  wick  is  a  great 
boon  to  those  running  incubators  and  brooders.  They 
need  no  trimming,  and  emit  no  smoke,  two  desirable  quali- 


PROFITABLE   POULTRY   FARMING.  43 

ties.  Giving  a  steady  flame,  they  will  keep  up  the  heat  far 
better  than  the  ordinary  wick  and  last  twenty  times  as  long. 
I  use  them,  and  would  not  be  without  them. 

For  permanent  fencing  nothing  equals  the  picket  fencing 
advertised  by  the  Styron  Fence  Company.  I  use  that  style 
and  find  it  durable,  cheap  and  attractive. 

For  an  absolutely  safe  lamp,  and  one  that  will  give  a  per- 
fectly even  and  uniform  heat,  I  can  certainly  recommend 
the  Hydro  Safety  Lamp,  advertised  in  this  book.  No 
smoke  nor  soot  are  ever  caused  by  it,  as  in  other  lamps, 
and  this  certainly  is  "  another  step  toward  perfection  in 
the  artificial  hatching  and  rearing  of  poultry." 

The  preparations  advertised  by  F.  A.  Mortimer  are  all 
that  they  are  claimed  to  be.  Mortimer's  "  Sure  Shot  "  and 
"  ChicK  Feed"  are  the  two  best  articles  I  ever  used. 

The  specialties  advertised  by  W.  H.  Wigmore  are  all 
first  class  goods,  and  I  can  certainly  recommend  him,  hav- 
ing always  had  pleasant  and  profitable  business  relations 
with  him. 

Peter  Duryee  &  Co.  are  too  well  and  favorably  known  to 
need  much  mention  by  me.  The  firm  has  been  in  busi- 
ness for  years,  and  in  all  that  time  I  have  never  heard  of  a 
single  complaint  against  it. 

Those  who  raise  fruit  with  poultry,  will  find  the  fruit 
evaporator  advertised  in  this  issue  to  be  of  much  service 
to  them.  It  will  pay  to  evaporate  fruit.  I  have  one  of 
these  evaporators  in  use,  and  find  it  very  profitable. 

Poultry  supplies  of  all  t^inds  are  furnished  by  the  Michi- 
gan Poultry  Farm.  No  one  need  hesitate  to  send  money 
to  this  farm,  for  the  business  standing,  integrity  and  worth 
of  the  proprietor  are  beyond  suspicion, 

III  starting  a  poultry  farm,  it  is  always  best  to  start  right. 
In  this  way  much  money  is  saved,  and  very  little  lost.  The 
best  way  to  begin  is  to  see  the  advice  of  an  expert,  and  I 
ta^e  pleasure  in  recommending  Mr.  A.  F.  Hunter,  the  edi- 
tor of  Farm- Poultry ^  for  such  worx.     See  his  advertisement. 

For  good  thoroughbred  poultry  write  James  E.  Hum- 
phreys, whose  advertisement  appears  in  this  boo-.  Mr. 
Humphreys'  prices  are  very  low  for  the  quality  of  stock. 

Of  commission  houses,  those  of  A.  &  M.  Robbins,  of  New 
Yor'<,and  F.  S.  Gibson,  of  Philadelphia,  stand  in  front. 
Hammonton  poultry  and  fruit  raisers  ship  to  both  of  them. 

No  one  raising  poultry  should  be  without  a  Wilson  Bone 


44  PROFITABLE  POULTRY  FARMING. 

Mill.  They  are  cheap  and  good,  and  in  use  in  the  largest 
broiler  establishments  in  Hammonton  and  elsewhere. 

For  reliable  nurserymen,  the  firms  of  West  Jersey  Nur- 
sery Co.,  Wm.  Parry  and  H.  M.  Whiting,  are  worthy  of 
your  patronage.  They  do  a  strictly  honest  business,  and 
are  reliable. 

I  am  proud  of  the  representation  of  American  poultry 
publications  to  be  found  in  the  advertising  pages.  Un- 
doubtly  the  papers  and  books  advertised  are  the  best  to  be 
found,  and  should  be  liberally  advertised. 

A  VISIT   TO   THE   PRAIRIE   STATE   FACTORY. 

By  special  invitation  from  the  company,  I  paid  the  home 
of  the  Famous  Prairie  State  Incubator  a  visit.  Homer  City 
is  pleasantly  situated  in  Western  Pennsylvania,  not  far 
from  Pittsburg,  and  is  about  in  the  center  for  the  incuba- 
tor business,  about  equally  convenient  for  shipments  to 
both  the  east  and  the  west. 

The  Prairie  State  was  originally  manufactured  in  Illinois, 
hence  the  name.  After  about  one  year  on  the  market  there 
the  business  was  moved  to  its  present  home,  being  so  cen- 
trally located,  and  right  in  the  heart  of  the  lumber  region 
of  Penusylvania,  where  the  company  could  secure  all  kinds 
of  lumber  used  in  the  construction  of  their  famous  incu- 
bators and  brooders.  It  is  simply  wonderful  how  this  com- 
pany has  been  pushing  to  the  front,  as  they  tell  me  when 
they  first  started  in  business  in  Homer  City,  one  man,  the 
original  inventor  and  patentee,  Mr.  J.  L.  Nix,  did  all  the 
work  himself;  built  the  machines,  did  the  tinning  work, 
also  painted  and  boxed,  ready  to  ship.  Mr.  A.  F.  Cooper, 
who  was  then  manager  of  a  large  poultry  farm  in  Homer, 
bought  a  half  interest,  and  they  commenced  doing  business 
under  the  name  of  "Prairie  State  Incubator  Company." 
Mr.  Cooper  acted  as  traveling  salesman,  and  he  visited 
most  all  the  states  in  the  Union  in  order  to  show  how  the 
machines  are  constructed.  Also  showing  the  machines  in 
the  strongest  competition  in  the  show  room,  always  com- 
ing out  with  the  lion's  share  of  the  prizes.  Although  the 
machine  has  been  but  eight  years  on  the  market,  it  has 
become  popular  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  All  the 
large  broiler  and  duck  farms  use  them. 

On  April  30,  1892,  the  old  factory  of  the  company  was 
destroyed  by  fire,  in  which  were  lost,  beside  the  building, 


PROFITABLE  POULTRY  FARMING.  45 

all  the  tools,  stock  on  hand,  and  sixty-three  machines,  in 
all  stages  of  construction.  At  the  time  of  the  fire  the  com- 
pany had  eighty  orders  on  hand,  and  they  at  once  notified 
the  different  parties  about  their  loss,  and  the  probability 
of  having  to  wait  some  time  before  their  orders  could  be 
filled,  but  not  one  order  was  countermanded. 

The  new  factory  is  a  substantial  building,  32x104  feet, 
two  stories,  with  a  boiler  house  attached,  20x42  feet,  in 
which  is  run  a  Carlin  engine.  The  roof  is  made  of  steel, 
while  the  roofs  of  the  other  buildings  are  slate.  The  entire 
building  is  heated  by  steam,  and  lighted  up  by  natural  gas, 
the  latter  being  brought  a  distance  of  sixteen  miles. 
Twenty-six  mechanics  (not  boys)  are  employed,  and  the 
works  are  compelled  to  run  almost  day  and  night,  and  still 
not  able  to  work  ahead  of  their  orders. 

The  lumber  for  the  manufacture  of  the  machines  is 
bought  in  the  rough  and  sawed,  after  which  it  is  put  in  a 
dry  kiln,  which  contains  the  Sturtevant  system  complete. 
As  everything  is  passed  on  trucks  very  little  handling  is 
done.  The  factory  is  replete  with  tin  and  plumbing  shops, 
paint  department,  etc.,  so  that  every  part  of  the  machine 
is  done  right  at  home. 

It  was  a  pleasure  to  see  the  machines  in  the  different 
stages  of  construction,  and  to  see  how  thoroughly  the  work 
was  performed.  In  order  that  the  workmen  will  take  the 
best  of  care,  each  one  is  required  to  put  his  initials  on  the 
part  of  the  machine  he  makes,  so  that  any  mistakes  may  be 
traced.  In  the  event  of  a  machine  being  returned  for  some 
cause  in  the  construction,  the  initials  tell  who  made  the 
mistake,  and  that  party  is  compelled  to  rebuild  it  at  his 
own  expense.  This  insures  a  protection.  In  order  that 
the  machine  may  be  as  little  affected  by  outside  temper- 
ature as  it  is  possible  to  get  it,  asbestos  is  placed  on  top  of 
the  tank,  and  then  comes  a  filling  of  sawdust,  over  which 
is  covered  oiled  paper,  and  then  the  outside  case.  This 
makes  a  double  case,  and  is  bound  to  hold  the  heat.  The 
lamps  are  now  placed  at  the  end  of  the  machines  instead 
of  the  center,  as  was  adopted  in  the  old  style.  But  with 
all  these  improvements  the  prices  have  been  cut  down 
ten  dollars  on  each  style.  The  sizes  of  incubators  run 
from  50  to  520  egg  capacity  of  the  chick  machines,  while 
the  duck  machine,  a  new  invention,  is  of  288  egg  capa- 
city. The  latter  costs  $62.00.  The  duck  machine  is  built 
on  the  regular  style,  and  has  a  nursery  beneath.    A  screen 


46  PROFITABLE   POULTRY   FARMING.       ^ 

is  placed  over  the  ventilators  to  the  nursery,  to  make 
it  fly  proof,  for  summer  hatching.  The  brooders  are  all 
on  the  pipe  top-heat  system,  and  have  expansion  tanks. 
They  can  be  bought  in  sections,  if  desired 

In  conclusion,  I  desire  to  say  that  this  company  is  doing  a 
large  business,  and  is  annually  making  great  strides,  and  I 
certainly  can  recommend  them  and  their  machines,  being 
personally  acquainted  with  both.  And  I  never  saw  such  a 
collection  of  fine  machinery,  as  planes,  saws,  molders,  and 
labor-saving  devices  as  this  factory  contains.  •' 


PROFITABLE   POULTRY   FARMING. 


47 


INCUBATORS «» BROODERS 


76  FIRST  PREMIUMS,  g^ 

80  PAGE  ILLUSTRATED  CATALOGUE,    ^^^^ 
m  SOLID  TESTIMONIALS. 


ADDRESS : 


Prairie  State  Incubator  Co., 


HOMER    CITY,    PENNSYLVANIA. 


48 


PROFITABLE  POULTRY  FARMING. 


5UCKEYE  INCUBATOR  QO. 

SPRINGF^IKIvD,  OHIO. 

mimm  HATCHER— SELF  REGULATING. 


1,11    M     ^    ^  « 


BEST  AND  CHEAPEST  INCUBATOR  EVER  OFFERED. 


No.  I,  lOO  ECC  SIZE, 

No.  2,200     " 

No.  3,300     "  "    - 


$  17  00 

20  00 

25  00 


Of  the  INVINCIBLE  HATCHER  we  have  sold  over  600 
in  six  months,  and  every  patron  testifies  to  its  merits. 
They  are  in  every  State  and  Territory.  We  GUARANTEE 
it  as  good  a  Hatcher  as  the  highest-priced  incubator  made, 
or  REFUND  YOUR  MONEY. 

Send  four  cents  in  stamps  for  our  new  Catalogue  and 
treatise  on  artificial  incubation. 

BUCKE^YB  IlSrCUBATOR  CO., 

SPRINGFIELD,   OHIO. 


PROFITABLE  POULTRY  FARMING. 


49 


Buckeye  Incubator  Go< 

SPRINGFIELD,  OHIO. 

SAUMENiG  IMPROVED  TANK  BROODER. 


HBAT   BOTH   TOP   AND   BOTTOM,  AND   PERFECTLY  UNIFORM   IN  ALL  PARTS  OF 
THE   INTERIOR.      NO   CHICKS   LOST   BY   CROWDING   IN  THIS  BROODED. 

No.  1,    3  feet  long,  100  Chicks  size flO.OO 

No.  2,    5    "       "      150  to  200  Chicks  size 15.00 

No.  3,  10*"       "       300  to  400       "  "      25.00 

No.  4,  15    "       "       500  to  600       "  "      30.00 

Send  four  cents  in  stamps  for  descriptive  Catalogue,  and 
investigate  this  before  you  buy  a  Brooder,  and  you  will 
make  no  mistake. 

BUCKEYE  INCUBATOR  CO.,  SPRINGFIELD,  OHIO. 


50 


PROFITABLE   POULTRY   FARMING. 


A.  F.WILLIAMS,  Bristol,  Conn 


-MANUFACTURER   OF   THE- 


Improved  MONITOR  Incubator,  The  I.  X.  L  Brooders, 

And  BRISTOL   BROODERS. 


Factory:—  16  to  20  Race  Street. 


[from  western   poultry  journal  of   OCTOBER,    I892.] 

The  Improved  Monitor  Incubator  is  made  of  the  very  best  material,  and 
none  but  first-class  mechanics  employed  A  machine  whose  excellent 
qualities  are  known  all  over  the  United  States,  and  used  and  recommended 
by  the  best  poultry  men.  Bverj^  article  used  in  the  construction  of  the 
machine  is  first-class,  and  all  machines  are  thoroughly  tested  before  leav- 
ing the  factory.  No  watching  the  machine  is  required,  as  they  have  per- 
fect regulators.  It  has  been  awarded  the  first  premium  at  nearly  all  the 
great  fairs  and  expositions  in  the  United  States.  The  Monitor  Incubator 
is  one  of  the  best  incubators  made.  Only  the  very  best  mechanical  skill 
is  used  in  the  construction  of  these  machines.  They  give  complete  satisfac- 
tion wherever  used.  Parties  desiring  a  large  book  of  valuable  information, 
should  cut  their  advertisement  out  of  this  issue  and  mail  it  to  A.  F.  Wil- 
liams, Bristol,  Connecticut. 

We  have  lots  of  testimonials  like  the  following: 

Blackstone,  Mass.,  Nov.  i,  1892. 

A.  F.  Williams.  My  Dear  Sir: — I  am  more  than  delighted  with  the  re- 
sult of  my  first  hatch,  87  percent,  of  the  fertile  eggs  that  were  placed  in  the 
Monitor  Incubator.  I  congratulate  you  in  producing  such  a  simple  incu- 
bator to  run,  and  without  doubt  one  of  the  finest  incubators  made.  I  fully 
believfe  I  can  produce  100  per  cent,  of  fertile  eggs  in  a  little  while.  I  never 
had  any  experience  in  running  incubators,  as  this  is  the  first  incubator  I 
ever  owned.  I  take  great  pleasure  in  showing  the  incubator  to  all  who 
are  interested.  Yours,  O.  F.  Fuller. 

The  regulator  did  not  vary  but  one  degree  during  the  whole  hatch. 


PROFITABLE   POULTRY  FARMING.  51 


m  PINELAND 


"i'*     «^f^     ^'^^     .^^'^     <^^^ 


Incubators  and  Brooders 


MAKE  NO  MISTAKE, 
BUY  THE  BEST, 

When  you  decide  to  purchase  Incubators  and  Brooders. 

THE  PINELAND  ALWAYS 

is  Self  Regulating.  Gets  There. 

Will  produce  more  strong,  healthy  ducks  and  chicks  than 

ANY  INCUBATOR  IN   OPERATION. 


The  Brooders  have  no  equal  for  ducklings  and  chickens. 
Will  raise  a  larger  percentage  with  less  expense  and 
trouble  than  any  other. 

SEND  FOR  CIRCULAR. 

PINELAND  INCUBATOR  AND  BROODER  CO., 

JA.l!iLESBXJTi.G,    N.    J. 


52 


PROFITABLE  POULTRY  FARMING. 


GEO.  H.  STAHL 


PATENTEE  AND  SOLE  MANUFACTURER  OF  THE 


o@(§)^    IMPROVED    ^(§)@g> 

INCUBATOR 
M«  BROODER 

QUmCY,  ILLINOIS. 


PROFITABLE   POULTRY  FARMING. 


53 


The  Hammonton  Incubator. 


Two  Sizes— 150  and  300  Eggs. 

PRICES:    $16. OO  and  $27. OO. 

J®"Catalogue  sent  pkee  to  any  addkess. 

Also,  The  Pressey  Patent  Brooder. 

r^     Capacity,  100  Chicks. 
Perfect  Ventilation. 


SEND  FOR 

CATALOGUE  TO 

HAMMONTON  INCUBATOR  CO., 

HAMMONTON,   NEW  JERSEY. 


54 


PROFITABLE  POULTRY  FARMING. 


nrHK^ 


Peep -'0- Day  Brooder 


(D 


m 
(f) 

o 
o 

;:> 

(I) 


a 


It  does  the  work  a  brooder  is  wanted  to  do.*^ 


ENDORSED  BY   A.   F.   HUNTER,   EDITOR    OF    FARM-POULTRY. 


-SEND     FOR    CIRCULAR. 


E.  F.  HODGSON,  Dover,  Mass, 


PROFITABLE   POULTRY  FARMING. 


IF"    YOXJ    ^WI\.NT 


INC 


BATO 


55 


RS 


BROODERS 

or  POULTRY  SUPPLIES, 
Write  to 

JAS.  E.  WARNER, 

19  Park  Place,  New  YorR  City. 


Chelton's 
Brooder. 


The  CHEAPEST  and  BEvST  invent- 
ed. Improved  HAMMONTON  INCU- 
BATORS, 3  sizes,  S25,  S15,  $12  each. 
Used  on  some  of  the  Largest  Broiler 
Farms  in  Hammonton,  New  Jersey. 
fi®=SOLD  ON  A  GUARANTEE  to 
equal  any  Hatcher  and  Brooder  made. 
Prize  Fowl  and  Eggs  for  sale.  Send 
stamp  for  testimonials  and  circulars. 


tj  _  .m:^.- 


.TmTQN, 


FAIRMOUNT,  MARYLAND. 


THE  @  PLYfflOUT 

The  Finest  REGULATED  in  the 
market.  The  heat  of  a  match  will 
work  the  Regulator. 

The  only  machine  invented  to  hatch 
chicks  without  moisture  being  added. 
Enclose  two  cent  stamp  for  circular 
and  reply. 

H.  A.  COFFIN, 


P.  O.  Address, 
(box  ioi) 


Manufacturer 


CUMMINGSVILLE , 
MASS 


56  PROFITABLE  POULTRY  FARMING. 


[EstabUshed  185S.] 

Atlaiiic  Fam 

Speonk,  Long  Island,  N.  Y. 

A.  J.  HALLOCK,  PROPRIETOR. 


One  thousand  choice  Pekin  Ducks  have  been  selected 
from  out  of  20,000  to  25,000  hatched,  which  are  used  this 
season  for  breeding  purposes,  many  weighing  twelve 
pounds,  and  even  more,  apiece. 

Twenty-six  incubators  are  employed  to  utilize  the  eggs 
on  the  farm ;  this  branch  of  the  business  being  under  the 
sole  charge  of  G.  A.  McFetridge. 

Three  large  Brooders,  with  a  floor  space  of  five  thousand 
nine  hundred  square  feet,  are  used  continually  on  the  farm 
during  the  season. 

A  natural  stream  of  water  runs  through  the  yards,  which 
keeps  the  stock  in  a  healthy,  vigorous  condition. 

Ducks  with  us,  receiving  natural  food  found  on  Long 
Island,  are  always  in  good  shape  for  the  production  of  fer- 
tile eggs  and  hardy  offspring. 

EGGS  FOR  HATCHING— Per  11,|1.25;  per 
22,  |2.00;  per  100,  |7.00;  per  1,000,  $60.  Eggs  CAREFULLY 
PACKED,  and  safe  delivery  guaranteed. 

j|@^SEND   FOR   CIRCULAR.°^i 


PROFITABLE   POULTRY  FARMING. 

THE  SUNLIGHT 


57 


Carbon 

Wick 

Double  the  light  of  any  other  Wick. 
An  intense,  brilliant,  white  light. 
Brighter  than  gas.  , 

NO  TRIMMING. 

NO  SMOKE. 

NO  ODOR. 

Will  last  twenty  times  longer  than  any 

other  Wick, 
No  trouble  to  keep  clean. 
Always  ready  for  use. 

THE  BEST    WICK    KNOWN 

FOR 

INCUBATOR  AND  BROODER  HEATERS. 

Wicks    to  Fit  any  L,amp   or    Oil    Stove  Furnished   to   Order. 

Flat  Wicks  of  any  size  n]^  to  4  inclies,  sent  by  mail  on  receipt  of  10  cents.  Above 
4  inches,  15  cents.  Special  jn-ices  by  the  dozen,  and  for  extra  sizes.  If  3'ou  have  any 
irregular  sized  Wick,  send  it  with  10  cents,  and  it  will  be  carbonized  and  returned  to 
you.    Special  Wicks  to  order  at  special  prices. 

ORDER  ONLY   OF  / 

5.  Q.  ROBINSON, 


No.  29  Purchase  Street, 


BOSTON,  MASS, 


POULTRY  PRINTING    of  every   description. 


58 


PROFITABLE   POULTRY   FARMING. 


The  Styroii  CofflMnation  Fence. 


Made  of  Virginia  White  Cedar  Pickets  atid  Bessemer  Steel 

Galvanized  "Wire.    Is  the  Strongest,  Most  Durable, 

and  Cheapest  Provision  for  Farm  and  General 

Rural  Purposes  on  the  Market. 

It  has  received  the  highest  awards  from  every  Agricultural  Fair  at  which 
it  has  ever  been  exhibited,  and  the  universal  commendation  of  thousands 
who  have  used  it,  both  in  the  United  States  and  England. 

THE  CELEBRATED  0.  G.  POULTRY  FENCE 

Is  the  same  construction,  only  lighter,  and  is  specially  suited  for  POULTRY, 
being  handsomer,  stronger,  more  durable,  and  cheaper  than  wire  netting. 
Send  for  Circixlars  and  all  information  to 

THE  STYRON  FENCE  COMPANY, 

Office  for  Middle  States,  3125  Market  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Factory,  139  Water  St.,  and  20  Navison  St.,  Norfolk,  Va. 

ft 

FOR  SALE  BY  ELVINS  &  ROBERTS,  HAIVIiVIONTON,  N.  J. 

li®=Ask  your  storekeeper  for  it,  or  send  for  Circular  to  Philadelphia  Office. 


PROFITABLE   POULTRY  FARMING. 


59 


The  Hydro  Safety  Lamp. 


i^ 


Style 


SC 


if 


((p)) 


c 


Sjt 


Is  constructed  throughout  for  the  one  purpose  of  giving 
a  constant,  even  heat  for  any  length  of  time  without  incur- 
ring the  slightest  danger  of  fire. 

In  every  part  it  is  specially  adapted  to  Incubator  and 
Brooder  use. 

It  is  MORE  DURi^BLE,  MORE  CONVENIENT  TO  USE, 
and  MORE  ECONOMICAL  OF  OIL  than  any  other  lamp  in 
use,  and 

(L-^lT  IS  ABSOLUTELY  SAFL.-^ 

Made  in  five  sizes  and  styles,  suited  to  all  Incubators  and 
Brooders.     Send  for  Circular  to 

L,  R,  OAKES,  Manufacturer,  Bloomington,  Ind. 

CEO.  H.  CROLEY,  PACIFIC  COAST  AGENT, 

516  Sacramento  Street,     -    -    SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 


60  PROFITABLE   POULTRY  FARMING. 

MORTIMER'S   CELEBRATED 

CM  CERTAIN  CURE  M  ■  CHICK  FEED.  U  M 
n  for  Cholera,  n  T\  Invaluable  for  n  11 
I        Roup, and  other  I         »■     young  and  \      \ 

Ij     DISEASES  of  Ij     I       growing  ll     ll 

iWlPoultry.  Mil  I  chicks.  M|  M 


50c.  per  ft). ;  5  ffjs.  for  $2.00 


$3  per  50  lbs. ;  $5  per  100  Itjs 


SURE  SHOT. 

Death  to 
Chicken  Lice 
and  all  insect 
life. 


25c.  per  K). ;  5  Bbs.  for  $1.00 


WHAT  OTHERS  SAY: 

G.  A.  McFetridge,  author  of  Poultry,  says :  "I  have  tried 
your  preparations,  and  strongly  endorse  them,  as  I  am  sure 
there  is  nothing  yet  on  the  market  to  equal  them.  You 
have  hit  on  the  right  thing.  Your  '  Chick  Feed '  is  indis- 
pensable. I  have  the  proof  in  our  brooder  house,  which  is 
full  of  the  finest  kind  of  lively  chicks  fed  on  MORTIMER. 
How  they  do  grow.  Everybody  ought  to  know  about  this 
food.  Its  use  saves  both  labor  and  money.  The  chicks 
grow  so  rapidly,  and  but  few  die." 

Wm.  J.  Schauble,  Erie,  Pa.,  says:  "I  find  your  '  Chick 
Feed'  is  all  you  claim  for  it.  Your  'Sure  Shot'  is  just 
the  thing  to  knock  out  the  lice.  I  raised  nearly  all  my 
chicks  last  season,  and  give  all  the  credit  to  your  '  Chick 
Feed.'  I  never  did  so  well.  I  urge  all  my  friends  to  use 
your  preparations.  I  find  your  '  Certain  Cure '  '  a  great 
thing.'  " 

O.  F.  Foster,  Green  Springs,  Ohio,  says :  "Is  your  ' Chick 
Feed'  a  good  thing?  Well,  I  should  say  so.  Thought  I 
could  do  fairly  well  raising  chicks  before  I  tried  '  C.  F.,'  but 
since  using  it  think  I  never  raised  chicks  before.  I  have  a 
hatch  of  105,  three  and  a  half  weeks  old;  lost  three.  Two 
were  cripples  and  died  first  twenty-four  hours.  How  is 
that?    Send  me  another  100  pounds." 

Wm.  H.  Trustow,  Stroudsburgh,  Pa.,  says:  "Send  me 
500  pounds  'Chick  Feed.'  I  had  given  upraising  chicks 
for  a  number  of  years,  as  I  had  so  much  difficulty  in  raising 
them,  and  gave  my  whole  attention  to  ducklings,  but  since 
using  your  '  C.  F.'  I  find  them  as  easy  to  raise  as  ducks." 

Enclose  stamp  for  Circular.       FRANCIS  A.  MORTIMER, 

F»OTTSVILLE,    PA. 


PROFITABLE  POULTRY  FARMING. 


61 


THE  BEST  POULTRY  FENCES 

ARE  MADE  OF  GALVANIZED  WIRE  NETTINGS ! 

And  cost  the  least — only  50  cents  per  100  square  feet  for  3-inch  No.  18;  and 
60  cents  for  2-inch  No.  19. 

PRICES  FOR  ROLLS  150  FEET  LONG: 

13      18      34      30      36      43      48      60      73  inch 

3-in,  mesh,  No.  18,  S  .So  Si.io  $1.50  81.90  $2.30  $2.65  $3.00  $3.75  $4.50      per  roll 

2-in.  nr^sh,  No.  19,      -90    1.35    i-So    2.25    2.70    3.15    3.60    4.50    5.40      per  roll_ 

1-in.  mesh,  No,  20,  2.00     3.00    4.00    5.00    6.00    700    8.00  10.00  12.00     per  roll _ 

7-8  inch  Galvanized  Staples,  10  Cents  per  pound. 

Discount  for  5  rolls,  5  per  cent.;  10  rolls,  10  per  cent;  3-inch  is  strong, 
and  will  stop  medium  and  large  fowls ;  2-inch  is  the  standard  for  any  breed  ; 
i-inch  for  yonng  chicks.     Our  Nettings  are  the  heaviest  and  best  made. 

Write  for  our  Price-list  of  other  stj-les  Wire  Fencing. 

PETER  DURYEE  &  CO,,  217  Greenmlcli  St,,  N.  Y. 

*^®"SPECIAIj   NOTIC3G— Freight  prepaid  to  any  railroad  depot  east 
of  the  Mississippi  River  on  lots  of  five  or  more  rolls. 

Poultry  Marker 


By  mall  on  receipt  of  25c.  Send  for 
Catalogue  of  Poultry  specialties,  all 
the  VERY  LATEST  improved  capon- 
izing,  etc.  Caponizing  Tools  of  ev- 
ery description,  with  instructions, 
Cow  Milking  Tubes,  Teat  Dilators, 
Windy  Dropsy  Trocars,  Poultry 
Killing  Knives,  Roup  Syringes,  An- 
tifeather  Pullers,  Gapes  Extermi- 
nators, Egg  Testers,  How  to  Make 
Poultry  Pay,  etc. 

W.  H.  WICMORE, 

107  S.  8th  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 


62 


PROFITABLE  POULTRY  FARMING. 


EVAPORATE  YOUR  FRUIT. 


2i  X 


l;      p     VO       M 


>l     U5 


5    'X 


W    o 


o 

-(-I 
O 

a 
> 


a 

o 

p. 


(LI      ^    ■ '^ 

••H       f^       </- 

R    ^  t+i    (U 


.5  > 


C3    ^ 

^    be 


i  i^  "1 ,« 


be 


A  Ci; 


With  it  you  can  at  odd  times,  summer  or  winter,  evaporate  enough  wast- 
ing fruit,  etc.,  for  family  use,  and  enough  to  sell  or  exchange  for  all  or  the 
greater  part  of  your  groceries,  and  in  fact,  household  expenses. 

TO  THE  LADIKS  OF  THE  HOUSEHOLD,  IN  TOWN  OR  COUNTRY, 
IT  IS  A  LITTLE  GOLD  MINE.  No  labor  you  can  perform  for  cash  re- 
turns pays  as  well  as  that  of  converting  wasting  fruits  into  evaporated 
stock.  These  products  are  among  the  highest  pi-iced  luxuries  in  food  pro- 
ducts. Evaporated  peaches,  cherries,  and  raspberries,  20  to  25c.  per  lb. ; 
apples,  pears,  blackberries,  etc.,  10  to  15c.;  all  salable  to  or  may  be  ex- 
changed with  your  grocer  for  anything  he  sells. 

ITS  CAPACITY  IS  AMPLE  FOR  DOMESTIC  USE.  Greater  than  some 
machines  selling  for  $15  to  S20.  For  large  Evaporators  write  for  our  Cata- 
logue of  the  American  Evaporator. 

AM,  MFG.  CO.,  "Waynesboro,  Pennsylvania. 


PROFITABLE   POULTRY  FARMING.  63 


DPPLIES. 


<ii'l  WE  ARE  HEADQUARTERS  |'p- 
MOST  COMPLETE  STOCK  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

EVERYTHING  FOR  THE  POULTRYMAN,  FROM  A  MARKING 
BAND  TO  A  COMPLETE  BROILER  OUTFIT. 

PRICES  GUARANTEED  the  LOWEST. 

Distance  no  Obstacle.    We  Equalize  Freights. 

General  Western  Agents  for 

MONITOR  INCUBATORS  AND  BROODERS. 

Ji@^  Factory  Agents  for  Best  Wire  Netting  in  the  Market. 

Pure  Bred  Poultry. 

LIGHT  BRAHMAS, 

WHITE  WYANDOTTES, 
BUFF  COCHINS, 
LANGSHANS, 

PLYM.  ROCKS, 

Prize  winners  at  Leading  Shows.    If  in  need  of  Stock  or 
Eggs  we  will  supply  you  at  reasonable  prices. 

SEND  FOR  OUR  CATALOGUE, 

A  handsome,  40-page,  illustrated  book.   Free  to  all.  It  tells 
all  about  us,  and  will  interest  you.    Address, 

Michigan  Poultry  Farm, 

Geo.  J.  NissLY,  Propr.  SALINE,  MICHIGAN. 


64 


PROFITABLE   POULTRY   FARMING. 


EXPERT 
ADflCE. 


The  subscriber  offers  his  services,  for  a 
reasonable  fee  and  expenses,  to  visit  farms 
and  advise  as  to  the  location  and  plans  of 
poultry  buildings,  etc.,  and  the  methods 
to  be  employed  in  establishing  a  poultry 
business.  Expensive  blunders  are  fre- 
quently made  in  useless  experiments,  in 
learning  things  which  a  day's  time  of  one 
who  has  carefully  studied  the  problems, 
would  have  avoided. 

PLANS  OF  BUILDINGS  FURNISHED. 

A.  F.   HUNTER, 

South  Natick,  Mass. 

Editor  of  Farm- Poultry,  Boston. 


Flowing  Springs  Pouitry  Yards. 

PIERCETON,  KOSCIUSKO  COUNTY,  INDIANA. 

J  AS.  E.  HUMPHREYS,  Propr. 

Breeder  of  WHITE  PIvYMOUTH  ROCKS  and  WHITE  LEGHORNS.  Eggs 
in  season.  Circulars  free.  Also  agent  for  the  celebrated  MONARCH  Incu- 
bators and  Brooders,  and  the  Famous  Wilson  Green  Bone,  Shell  and  Corn 
Mills  for  poultry  men.  Send  for  catalogues.  Incubator  is  TRULY  self- 
regulating,  substantially  made,  and  will  hatch  90  to  95  per  cent,  of  fertile 
eggs.  Insurance  companies  will  insure  the  machines  as  well  as  the  build- 
ings in  which  they  are  run. 

PRACTICAL 
Gaponizing   Tools. 

We  are  headquarters 
for  the  most  practical  set 
of  Caponizing  Tools  on 
the  market.  Unlike  the 
cheap  goods  offered,  ours 
are  in  constant  use  on 
the  large  poultry  farms. 
For  S»3  we  send  you  a 
complete  set,  and  a  book 
showing  how  the  work  is 
done.    Address, 

OAK  PARK  STOCK  FARM 

HAMMONTON,  N.J. 


PROFITABLE   POULTRY   FARMING.       '  65 
ESTABLISHED    1835 

A.  &   M.   BOBBINS, 

DEALERS  IN 

Poultry-^  Game 

93  to  108  Fulton  Country  Market^ 
and  217  Front  Street,       -       -       -    NEW  YORK. 


PHILADELPHIA,  PA.,  and  TOLEDO,  OHIO, 

CAN  OBTAIN 

Highest  Prices  for  Poultry. 

SHIP  TO  HIM  AND  YOUR  MONEY  IS  SURE. 


GRIND 


your  own  Bone  Meal, 
Oyster  Shells,  Gra- 
ham Flour,  and 
Corn,  in  the 


$5  HAND  MILL. 

(F.  Wilson's  Patent). 

100  per  cent,  more  made  in  keeping- 
Poultry.  Also  Power  Mills  and  Farm 
Feed  Mills.  Circulars  and  Testimonials 
sent  on  application. 


WILSON  BROS.,  £aston,  Pennsylvania » 


66  PROFITABLE    POULTRY   FARMING. 

Profitable  Poultry  Farming. 

To  make  it  Profitable  you  should  plant  your  runs  with  profitable 
fruit  trees.  We  would  recommend  PlumS.  The  poultry  keep  the 
Curculio  in  check  and  you  will  grow  fine  plums  with  your  poultry, 
and  at  not  much  additional  expense.  We  have  grown  crops  of  plums  from 
trees  in  yards   every   year.     Plums  hung  on  the  tree  like  ROPES  OF 

ONIONS.  Have  to  stake  and  tie  them  up  to  keep  from 
breaking  the  tree  down  the  second  year  it  was  planted- 
It  then  produced  six  to  eight  quarts  of  fine  fruit.    This  is 

not  a  high-priced,  new  kind,  either. 

PEACH  GROWERS:— Send  us  20  cents  in  2-cent  stamps  for  a  val- 
uable book  on  the  culture  of  peacheS.  how  to  ward  off  and  CUre 
the  yellows  and  other  diSeaseS  peculiar  to  the  peach  andexperi. 
ments  of  some  of  the  largest  growers  in  the  country.  Catalogue  and 
Price  List  of  all  nursery  stock  FREE. 

WEST  JERSEY  NURSERY  CO.,  Bridgeton,  N.  J. 

1838.       -        55  YEARS.        -        300  ACRES.       -       1893 
NUT  TREES   AND    NEW  PEARS. 

Parry's  Giant,  Pedigree  Japan  Manimotli,  Para- 
gon, and  other  Chestnuts,  Japan  Persian,  French  and 
English  Walnuts,  Pecans,  Almonds  and  Filberts.  Lin- 
coln Coreless  Pear — very  large  and  very  late.  Seneca 
— large,  handsome  and  immediately  after  Bartletts.  Ja- 
pan Golden  Russet,  Vermont  Beauty  and  Idaho, 
in  collections  at  reduced  rates.  E^leagnus  L,ongipes, 
Hardy  Oranges,  Wine-berries  and  other  valuable  novel- 
ties. Shade  Trees  for  I,awn  or  street,  Ornamental 
Shrubs,  Vines,  etc.  Grape  Vines,  Small  Fruit  Plants. 
Immense  Stock  Maples  and  Poplars  for  street  planting. 
Illustrated  descriptive  catalogue  free. 

POMONA  NURSERIES.  WM.  PARRY,  PARRY,  NEW  JERSEY. 

PLUM  TREES  FOR  POULTRY  YARDS. 

The  insect  pest  of  the  Plum  is  the  Curculio,  which  stings  the  fruit  and 
deposits  an  egg  in  the  hole  thus  made  The  egg  produces  a  worm  that 
eats  into  the  fruit,  causing  it  to  shrivel  and  drop  from  the  tree.  If  planted 
in  poultry  yards.  Plum  trees  bear  full  crops  of  fruit  annually,  the  hens  de- 
stroying the  Curculio.  Uo  not  neglect  this  chance  to  use  vour  yards  for  a 
double  purpose.  As  large  an  income  will  be  realized  from  the  trees  as  from 
the  hens.  Write  at  once  for  illustrated  list  of  choice  varieties.  Prices  low. 
Absolute  satisfaction  guaranteed. 

H.  M.  WHITING,  GENEVA,  N.  Y.,  OR  DORCHESTER,  MASS. 


PROFITABLE   POULTRY  FARMING.  67 


Tl^e  Poultry-Keeper  ^iio  ^isties  to  niaKe  tn?  ^ost 

of  l:|is  vopportur\ities  rieeds  a  copy  of 

fi.  BooK  ti\at  Will  save  ii\acl:\  tirqe,  trouble  aqd  expense 

Nearly  100  pages  of  designs  for  tjouses,  fences,  gates,  doors, 
l:\iqges,  faster|ir[gs,  percties,  qest-boxes,  feed  ar|d  \>^ater  vessels, 

coops  of  ail  Kirids,  etc.    ;;;;;;;;;;;;; 

Most  of  t]P[e  designs  are  origirial  v^it]:|  tY[e  aUtY\or. 
Rll  are  believed  to  be  t]\e  best  of  tlrieir  Kirid^\G) 
Hll  are  fully  illustrated  arid  described^\6) 

Written  for  tl:\ose  wi\o  Keep  poultry  ot\  a  farrq  or  ir|  tl^e  bacK- 
yard,  ar|d-'Wai\t  to  ii\aK;e  it  pay.  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  But  rqariy  of 
tl:\e  l|iqts  are  useful  about  every  l:\ouse  aT\d  yard,  \^?f\etl:\er  poul- 
try is  Kept  or  r\o':.        ••••••••• 

HANDY  SIZE  AND  SHAPE ' 

Printed  iq  qew  type, Bouqd  iq  t^eaVy  covers. 

PRICE,  50  CENTS  POSTPAID 


d.  HENRY  LEE, 


Artist  aqd  Autticr, 

INDmNflPOLIS,  IND. 


68  PROFITABLE   POULTRY   FARMING. 


5 


ONE-CENT  STAMPS! 

PAYS  FOR  ONE  YEAR'S  SUBSCRIPTION  TO 


The  Vestem  Poultry  loumal,  Bulls  anl  Frisiil, 


A  20-PAGE  MONTHLY,   ILLUSTRATED. 


Special  \  Amateurs, 

Department       Farmers,  and 

Pqj.  y  Market  Poultrymen 


Edited  by  MICHAEL  K.  BOYER. 

"YOU  NEED  IT  IN  YOUR  BUSINESS." 

SEND   STAMPS 


THE  GREATEST  ADVERTISING  MEDIUM  IN  THE  WEST. 

ADVERTISING    RATES  SENT  UPON  REQUEST. 

Address E.  E.  RICHARDS Publislier 

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PROFITABLE  POULTRY  FARMING. 


69 


*'  The  only  tvfieJdij  paper  worth  rea(?i?ip'."— Farm-Poultry. 

THE 


DEVOTED  TO 


DOGS 
POULTRY, •^  •••  ••• 

PIGEONS,   ••••  •••• 

PIGEON  FLYING 


UNIVERSALLY  ACKNOWLEDGED   TO   BE 

^^^he  Leading  Paper  of  its  Class. 


c 


As  an  Advertising  Medium  IT  IS  THE  BEST.    Nearly  all 

Reliable  and  Prominent  Fanciers  and  Dealers 

PATRONIZE  ITS  COLUMNS. 


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address:  FANCIER'S  PUBLISHSNG  COMPANY, 

Box916.]  PHILADELPHIA,  PA 


70 


PROFITABLE  POULTRY  FARMING. 


"THE 


-ALBANY,    NE.'W    YORK, 

Is  a  large,  finely  illustrated  Magazine,  devoted  to 

Poaltry  <^«el  Pet  Stoel^ 


-WITH    SPECIAL- 


Canadian,  Western,  Household,  and 
Children's  Departments. 


IT  IS  EQUALLY 
VALUABLE    TO 


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and  KANCIKR 


Its  articles  are  from   the  LEADING  WRITERS   on  the 
various  subjects,  and  are 

BOUGHT  AND  PAID  FOR, 

Not  "cribbed,"  making  it  the  MOST  EXPENSIVE  poultry 
journal  in  the  world  to  publish. 

Subscription,    ONE    DOLLAR    a   Year. 

SEND   FOR  ESTIMATE   IN   ADVERTISING   SPACE. 

Ferris  PuWlsMng  Co.,  AIMny,  N.  Y. 


PROFITABLE   POULTRY  FARMING.  71 

THE    POULTRY   KEEPER, 

T>,    H.    JACOBS,    BIDITOFt, 

Published    at    Parkesburg,    Chester    Co.,     Pennsylvania. 

Only  50  Cents  a  Year. 
EACH  ISSUE  WORTH   FIVE  DOLLARS. 

SAMPLE  COPY  FREE— SEND  FOR  ONE. 


BOOKS  — Only  5  Cents  Each. 

The  following  are  special  subjects,  and  though  they  are  back  numbers,  yet 
you  can  not  get  a  high-priced  book  that  will  give  so  much  on  the  subject 
selected.  Any  of  the  following  for  ./ice  centsiii.  stamps:  'TESTING  EGGS 
(illustrated.) — August,  i88=i,  Sept.,  1890,  June,  1891,  and  June,  1892,  the  latter 
full  of  illustrations.  CAPONIZING,  illustrated. — ^January,  1887,  and  March, 
1892.  AI.Iv  ABOUT  TURKEYS,  seven  columns,  March,  1892.  HOW  TO 
MAKE  THE  HOT  WATER  INCUBATOR,  illustrated.)  French  Mode  of 
Cramming  Fowls.  Mrs.  Moore's  Egg  Preserving  Receipt.  Why  Chicks  Die 
in  the  Shells,  July,  1887.  ALL  ABOUT  PREvSERVING  EGGS,  six  columns.— 
An  egg  turner.  Harris'  Poultrj-  House,  September,  1887.  ALL  ABOUT 
LICE,  illustrated.)  October,  1887,  and  December,  1891.  The  latter  shows  the 
kinds  of  lice,  magnified.  POULTRY  DISEASES.- Crop  Bound.  Egg- 
Bound.  Feather  Pulling.  Soft  Shell  Eggs.  Hens  Eating  Eggs.  Bum- 
ble Foot,  Scabby  Legs,  Worms,  (six  columns  on  diseases.)  A  Big  Egg 
Farm,  (^Prices).  Nouember,  18S7.  Prices  for  the  Whole  Year,  two  Years 
given,  and  prices  of  all  kinds  of  poultry  for  every  week  in  the  3'ear,  for  New 
YorK  and  Chicago.  Houghton's  (Cleveland)  Poultrv  House.  February, 
1888.  Also  April,  1892.  ALL  ABOUT  DUCKS,  five  columns.  Maj.  Jordan's 
Hot  Water  System.  August,  1888,  and  December,  1892.  FERTILIZATION 
OF  EGGS,  five  columns.  The  Ferret.  Feeding  for  Eggs.  September, 
1888.  Poultrv  Houses.  April,  1887,  Oct.,  1S8S,  and  July  1S91.  Fifty  illustra- 
tions. DEvSCRIPTlONS  OF  BREP;dS— Light  Brahmas,  Plymouth  Rocks, 
Pile  Leghorns,  Langshans,  Houdans,  and  Brown  Leghorns.  Five  columns. 
How  to  Place  the  Thermometer,  illustrated.)  Nov.,  1888.  How  to  Feed  for 
Eggs.  How  Much  to  Feed.  The  Kinds  of  Food.  Condition  Powders.  A 
Whole  Book  in  a  Small  Compass.  Nearly  eight  columns  on  Feeding,  with 
tables  and  proportions.  Oct.,  1891.  Brooders,  Incubators,  Appliances,  Poul- 
try Houses,  etc.,  (many  illustrations).  Aug.,  18S9,  and  Aug.,  1891.  These 
two  boo-c  are  worth  $10.  Points  on  Raising  Broilers  (forty-two  rules). 
Everybody  should  have  this.  Clover  Hay  as  Food  illustrating  the  cutter). 
The  Wj^andotte.  Fertilization  of  E.ggs.  Scoring  Games.  Oct.,  1889.  A 
Whole  Library-  of  Points.  A  grand  issue.  August,  1892.  Points  on  Hatch- 
ing Broilers.  A  whole  library  on  how  to  hatch.  It  is  worth  fso.  Oct.,  1892. 
Incubator  Appliances.  Illustrations  of  nests,  troughs,  novelties,  etc.  Full 
of  Illustrations.  Sept.,  1891.  Each  one  of  the  above  issues  contains  other 
valuable  information  also.  The  subjects  named  are  the  If  a"  ing  articles. 
The  reader  should  keep  this  for  reference.  It  will  save  much  time  inquir- 
ing for  special  articles.  The  issues  on  Poultry'  Houses,  Brooders,  Appli- 
ances, Feeding  for  Eggs,  Caponizing,  Prices  for  the  Whole  Year,  Preserving 
Eggs,  Turkeys,  Points  on  Hatching,  Points  on  Raising  Broilers,  Testing 
Eggs,  and  some  others,  are  worth  fifty  times  the  price,  as  there  is  no  book 
published  that  can  even  compete  witha  single  number. 


72  PROFITABLE  POULTRY  FARMING. 

WESTWARDj^HO! 

THE  FANCIERS'  MONTHLY 

Recognized  all  over  the  United  States  as  TMIt* 

Poultry  and  Pet  Stock  Magazine  of  the      I  H  E 

great  Pacific  Coast.  ■  ■  ■  ta 

Briglit! 
Handsome ! 
Progressive ! 
Practical! 
Indispensable ! 

Every  wide-awake  Poultry  Keeper  and  Fancier  of  Dogs, 
Pigeons,  etc.,  from  end  to  end  of  the  Coast  reads  The 
Fanciers'  Monthly, 

THE  FANCIERS'  MONTHLY  ]^^^-^ 

ested  in  Poultry.     It  leads,  but  never  follows. 

THE  FANCIERS'  MONTHLY  lf',tr%Tf:ort 

what  ails  those  who  can't  make  hens  lay. 

THE  FANCIERS'  MONTHLY  ^:-t^^Z.^t^ 

reading,  and  is  a  prime  favorite  with  successful  poultry 
keepers.     Using  the  pages  of 

THE  FANCIERS'  MONTHLY  ll^^ZT^iJ^^^ 

bull's  eye  in  trying  to  reach  buyers  on  the  Pacific  Coast, 
one  of  the  best  markets  in  the  world  for  all  kinds  of  fine 
Poultry,  Dogs,  and  Pet  Stock. 

THE  FANCIERS'  MONTHLY  ^^:i.^.^ 

fowls,  few  or  many,  can  afford  not  to  take  it.  Try  it !  Ac- 
cept nothing  claimed  to  be  just  as  good.  There  is  but  one 
Fanciers'  Monthly.  Get  the  best.  Send  |1.00  for  a  year's 
subscription  to  TH  K  Fa  NCI  hl{^'  MONTHLY,  !San  Jose,  Calif. 


PROFITABLE  POULTRY  FARMING.  73 

Is  a  necessity  to  every  one  who  keeps  few 
or  many  fowls.    The  Practical  Poultryman 

will  be  found  one  of  the  best  of  its  kind. 
Tells  all  about  how  to  feed  fowls,  cure  dis- 
eases, manage  your  flocks,  build  houses, 
etc.,  and  gives  enough  good  practical  hints 
drawn  from  experience  each  year  to  be 
^  worth  several  times  its  cost.    Twenty-four 

r Slier  pages  a  month,  bound  in  magazine  form, 

^  w-F^^  ^ith  cover,  50  cents  a  year.     :     :     :     :     : 


k  Good 
Poultry 


^    j_  ^r  Have  you  fowls  or  eggs  to  sell?    There  are 

I  .PT  I  Oil  r  always  those  who  want  them,  but  how  shall 
L)jl  luui  they  know  it?  Don't  hide  your  light  under 
a  bushel— advertise !  One  of  the  largest 
advertisers  in  the  U.  S.  says  the  Poultry- 
man  stands  second  on  his  list ;  another  just 
sold  $35  worth  of  stock  in  fifteen  days  on  a 
$2  adv.  Rates  reasonable:  Card,  four 
months,  %1 ;  short  time  space,  $1  an  inch. 

^     ^     ^ 


light 
SMne. 


We  do  all  kinds  of  printing  in  a   manner 
unexcelled  by  any  other  office.    Steam  pow- 
er, new  and  fast  presses,  new  type  and  a 
V  All  V  large  assortment  of  poultry  cuts  to  illustrate 

lUUi  work  including  many   new   ones  just  m. 

Note  Heads  and  Envelopes,  $1  for  250. 
11«4«fin/Y  0  Other  work  in  proportion.  Have  printed 
lllllllim  i  the  American  Poultry  Association  Proceed- 
ings  two  years,  state,  county  and  court 
printing  for  several  years.  If  we  suit  such 
people,  we  ought  to  suit  you.     :     :     :     : 

ffl.  D.  BRAHDAY  &  SON,  Publishers  and  Printers, 

Whitney's  Point,  New  York. 


74 


PROFITABLE  POULTRY  FARMING. 


profitable  poultrg 


kS^-*  >s^  k.^ 

^rf  Vf  Vf 


CAN  BE  RAISED  AND 
MANAGED  BY  THOSE 

WHO      I       i        I       I       I 


1\scib  j^mericDll  Poultry  Journal 

113  ADAMS  ST.,  CHICAGO,  ILL. 

>l.24, 

1 R  Q  ^        *  30-word  adYertlsement  and    Ui  1 
lOJj.       J  p  J  Que  year  .•.■.■.■.•.■.•    MP  J- 


THE  REPRESENTATIVE  POULTRY  JOURNAL 
OF  THE  vSOUTH.  THE  OLDEST,  LARGEST, 
BEST  CONDUCTED. 


Has  the  confidence  and  support  of  the  Southern  breeder,  and  is  therefore 
the  best  monthly  medium  through  which  to  reach  the  Southern  trade. 
Every  breeder  should  have  it.  If  you  have  not  seen  it,  write  for  a  copy. 
Subscription,  50  cents  per  year. 

THE  SOUTHERN  FANCIER   (Box  202),  Atlanta,   Ga. 


PROFITABLE   POULTRY  FARMING. 


75 


If  You 


Want  to  subscribe  for  a  good 


paper  that  will   tell  you   all 


about  raising   Poultry,  from 


the  shell  to  prize  winners  at 


the  leading  shows,  send  for 


a   copy  of 


THE 


Ohio  Poultry  Journal 

D-A.YTON,    0£IIO 


It  is  a  wide-awake,  newsj',  in- 


structive magazine.     Send  6c. 


in  stamps  for  a  copy;  it  will 


please  you  so  well   that  3'ou 


are  certain  to  become  a  regu- 


lar reader.      Address, 


Robt.  A.  Braden, 


DAYTON, 
OHIO 


A  FIRST-CLASS  JOB   OFFICE  HAS  BEKN  ADDED  TO  THE 
¥'>Ml)    JOURNAL— l^'EW  TYPE,  NEW  PRESSEvS,  ELECTRIC  POWER, 
ETC.,    MAKING    A    FINELY    EQUIPPF:d    ESTABLISHMENT. 
'^^    RATES    REASONABLE    AND    GOOD    WORK     GUARANTIED. 


76  PROFITABLE  POULTRY  FARMING. 


A  Straight,  Thoroughbred  Poultry  Paper 

The  Fancier^'  (ia^ette 

INDIANAPOLIS,  IND.     B.  N.  PIKRCK,  Editor. 

It  is  the  paper  for  those  who  seek  to  breed  the  Very  Best  Foivls  of  all 

breeds.  Neither  is  it  local  in  its  nature,  being  of  equal  value  to  poultry- 
men  in  every  and  all  sections  of  this  great  country.  IT  IS  HANDSOMELY 
ILLUSTRATED,  showing  thy  points,  good  and  bad,  and  which  all  poultry- 
men  are  anxious  to  learn.  It  is  an  advocate  of  THE  SCORING  SYSTEM 
of  judging.  Send  for  sample  copy.  Subscription  price,  $i.oo  per  year ;  two 
subscribers,  $1.50,  if  sent  at  one  time.  The  very  highest  cash  commissions 
will  be  paid  to  those  acting  as  subscription  agents.     SEND  FOR  TERMS. 

Address,  B.  N.  PIERCE,  Indianapolis,  Indiana. 

AN  OLD  TIMER. 


The" Poultry  Bulletin  of  New  York  is  the  oldest  Poul- 
try paper  in  the  world,  but  in  spite  of  age  is  as  lively  as  a 
ballet  dancer,  and  quite  as  entertaining, — [Exchange.) 

THE  POULTRY  BULLETIN 

Takes  the  LEAD  of  the  poultry  press  in  every  way,  and 
will  be  kept  there.  Postpaid  one  year,  $1.00.  Specimen 
•copy  free,  by  mentioning  this  advertisement. 

THE  POULTRY  BULLETIN, 

1. 1.  WARNER,  Manager,  19  Park  Place,  Hew  York  City. 


PROFITABLE   POULTRY  FARMING. 


77 


All  About  Broilers  and  Market  Poultry  Generally. 

BY  MICHAP;L  K.  BOYER,  only  25  CENTS,  POSTPAID. 
READ   WHAT   IT   CONTAINS: 

Illustrations— Portrait  of  the  author;  Hen  house  of  M.  K.  Beyer;  Dr. 
Edw.  North's  broiler  fa; m  :  Perfect  poultry  houses;  An  outdoor  incubator 
cellar. 

Chapter  I— Is  broiler  ra-siag  a  failure?  How  much  capital  is  required? 
How  much  land,  and  how  much  time  is  necepsary  ?      What  are  the  profits? 

Chapter  '  I— Incubators,  and  how  to  run  them;  brooders,  and  how  to  man- 
age them  ;  feed,  and  how  to  give  it. 

Chaptek  III — Mistakes  in  broiler  raising:  pure-breds  for  broilers;  good 
crosses  for  broiler^  ;  how  broilers  are  prepared  for  market. 

Chapter  IV— An  egg  farm;  how  to  feed  laying  hens;  how  to  get  fertile 
eggs  ;  how  to  market. 

Chapter  V— How  to  fatten;  caponizing;  pure-breds  the  best;  money  in 
ducks;  how  large  a  farm  ;  diseases  and  remedies 

Chapter  IV— Size  of  breeding  pen  ;  a  Virginian's  egg  secret ;  French  lice 
remedy;  "SourKrout"  for  fowls ;  E.  C.  Howe'  broiler  foods ;  Peterson's 
feed  for  young  chicks ;  Peterson's  feed  for  laying  hens  ;  poultry  at  the  ex- 
periment stations  ;  how  to  make  a  poultry  farm  pay. 

This  book  has  been  written  more  especially  for  the  novice.  It  teaches  the 
rudiments  It  gives  away  many  things  that  have  heretofore  been  kept  se- 
cret.   Order  at  OQce.     U.  S.  postage  stamps  taken.    Address 

OAK  PARK  STOCK  FARM,  HAMMONTON,  NEW  JERSEY' 


.  (A  New  Book.) 


BY    G".    A..    IVtcFEXFtlDGE. 

Table  of  Contents: — Temperature  for  Hatching;  Moisture;  Ventila- 
tion ;  How  to  Trim  the  Lamp ;  Time  Card  for  Incubators ;  Brooding  Small 
Chicks ;  Food  and  Care  of  Ducks  for  Breeders ;  Feeding-  Hens  for  Hatching 
Eggs;  Eggs  for  Hatching;  How  to  Feed  Little  Chicks;  How  to  Feed 
Y^oung  Ducks;  How  to  Dress  Ducks  for  Market;  How  to  Dress  Youno- 
Chickens;  The  Incubator  House;  Brooder  House;  Celery  for  Feeding 
Ducks;  Short  Notes;  Economy  and  Sanitary  Conditions  and  Medicines. 
Price,  so  Cents.    Remit  by  Postal  Note  or  Stamps 

OAK  PARK  STOCK  FARM,  Hammonton,  New  Jersey. 


f^y 


5,000  Questions  Answered. 

THE  BUSINESS  HEN. 

BREEDING  AND  FEEDING  POULTRY 
FOR  PROFIT. 

A  condensed  practical  ency- 
clopedia of  profitable  poultry 
keeping.  By  2S  practical 
poultrymen,  P.  H.  Jacobs, 
Henry  Hale,  James  Rankin, 
J.  H.  Drevenstedt  and  others. 
Fully  answers  more  than 
5,000  questions  about  poultry 
for  profit.  Edited  by  H.  W. 
Collingwood.  Price,  75c.  in 
cloth  ;  paper  cover,  40  cents. 
Address,  Oak  Park  Stock 
Farm,  Hammonton,  N.  J. 


78  PROFITABLE   POULTRY   FARMING. 


MAKING  POULTRY  PAY. 

The  undersigned  will  give  his  services  in  the  mapping  out  of  plans  and 
specifications  for  starting  profitable  poultry  farms,  together  with  expert 
advice  on  the  proper  branches  to  follow  in  market  poultry,  methods  of* 
feeding,  etc.,  for  a  small  fee.  Correspondence  solicited.  Ordinary  ques- 
tions answered  at  the  rate  of  25  cents  a  letter.  Ncjt-ntore  than  six  queries 
in  a  letter.  Thus  by  the  investment  of  a  little  money,  much  can  be  saved 
and  success  more  assured,  the  main  point  being  in  starting  out  in  the  right 
shape.  Address,  MICHAEL  K.  BOYER,  Hammonton,  N.  J.,  Associate 
Editor  Poultry  Keeper,  Market  Poultry  Editor  Iowa  Homestead, Wisconsin 
Farmer,  Germantown  Telegraph,  Westerjn  Poultry  Journal,  Poultry 
Monthly,  American  Poultry  Journal,  Ot^io  Poultry  Journal,  Midland 
Poultry  Journal,  etc. 

MONEY    IN   HENS. 


BY    MICHAEL  K.  BOYER. 


This  new  book,  which  is  now  in  press,  and 
will  be  out  soon,  will  tell  what  breeds  and 
•crosses  to  select,  how  to  erect  a  hennery,  how 
to  choose  the  stock,  how  to  feed,  and  how  to 
generally  care  for  pullets  and  hens  to  make 
them  profitable  as  egg  machines.  The  work 
combines  the  experience  of  both  the  author 
and  several  large  egg  farms. 

Price,  25  cents  per  copy.    Send  in  your  order  now. 

Oak  ^!^  Park^!^  Stock*  Farm 

HAMMONTON,  NEW  JERSEY. 


DATE  DUE 

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(V 


